A different Outcome
by MerlinAddicted
Summary: This is a story about another outcome. This is a story about how unconditional love can survive through the hardships of life, even though at some points it might seem like you can't even survive on your own.
1. Chapter 1

_**IMPORTANT!:Hello guys. This is still the same story, but heavily edited (not content wise, though! Just some content added), Because even I didn't like the first few chapters. Please give it another try, if you haven't liked it before.**_

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**What would have happened if the rebel Attack never took place? Is Maxon going to choose Kriss or America? What happens with the other girls? Will there be a future for America and Maxon, with knowing how the King despises America? Read and see ;)**

**The first extract is copied from the book. I do not own anything written in the first sentences. And some parts in the first chapter are also in the book.**

**I apologize in advance for all the grammar mistakes :(**

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"How long?" he asked quietly, still in control.  
"Do you remember that fight-", I started.  
Maxon erupted. "We've been fighting since the day we met, America! You'll have to be more specific!"  
I shook where I stood. "After Kriss's party."  
His eyes widened. "So basically since he got here," he said, something like sarcasm in his voice.  
"Maxon, I'm so sorry. At first I was protecting him, and then I was protecting myself. And after Marlee was caned, I was afraid to tell you the truth. I couldn't lose you," I pleaded.  
"Lose me? Lose _me?_" he asked, astonished. "You're going home with a small fortune, a new caste, and a man who is still pursuing you! I'm the one losing here today, America!"  
The words took my breath away. "I'm going home?"

Maxon took a deep breath, closing his eyes while trying to calm himself down.  
" I can't think right now, America." He finally whispered.  
"But…" tears started streaming down my face, "I love-"  
"Don't dare to say it now!" he hissed, "You have no right… I am going to leave. I can't breathe near you. I can't think near you. I want you ready tomorrow. Start packing your things, take whatever you want. I can't be near you right now." And then he left the room.

I erupted in sobs. He was going to send me home. I hurt him that much, that he was going to marry Kriss in front of my eyes. My chest tightened and I couldn't breathe.  
No, no, no.  
I couldn't hold myself any longer, breaking down to the floor, while sobbing my heart out.  
Around an hour later, Lucy came into my rooms, wanting to ask if I needed anything when she found me curled up on the floor.  
She didn't need to ask what had happened, since my state was explanation enough. My eyes were puffy and red from all the crying, my legs sore and stiff from lying on the ground for so long. She helped me get up and started to wash away my tears, helping me out of my gown.  
"Do you want to take a bath, Miss?" She asked me softly and when the only acknowledgment that I heard her was a tiny nod, she left me sitting on the bed, going in the bathroom to let in the water.  
"This will calm you down. Take as long as you need, I will be right here in your room."  
She helped me get into the bathtub, and the soreness of my body immediately faded away into the hot water. The lavender scent of the oil Lucy had put in the bath, was soothing the soreness of my mind, and made it possible for me to relax a little bit.  
Even though my body was somehow able to relax, the only sentence drifting through my head the entire time was "What have I done?"  
I called for Lucy when the bath's water started to cool off and she helped me get into some comfortable night clothes.  
"He is going to send me home Lucy…I did something terrible…" I whispered to my wonderful maid. She chose not to respond to my words, but to tuck me in.  
Lucy reached for my blanket, pulled it up until my nose was covered and started to clean the mess that was my room. Her quiet movements and soft sounds of moving things around, drove me quickly into an uneasy slumber.

**Maxon's POV**

I was angry. NO I was furious! How could she have done this to me? Had everything she ever said to me, shown to me, been a lie? A storm raged inside of me. I had announced I would make the final decision on tomorrow's _Report_. I had a ring made, specifically made for America, I had everything played out in my head and now? What was I going to do?  
I felt a rage I never had before, I wanted to punch something, hurt something the same, like I was hurt.  
In that moment I was deeply scared I would turn into my father and that thought set my head straight. I swore to myself to never be anything like him. He was impulsive (although he never wanted to admit it), brutal and dishonest. He was my father, so a little part of me still loved him, but he was responsible for the huge part that hated him, and that wanted to be NOTHING like him.  
I had to think rationally, and then make a decision.  
I went up the stairs, past the guards in front of the doors to my chambers and straight towards the adjoining balcony.  
It was a lot bigger than America's so I had room to pace up and down, and to think. The cool night air cooling off the anger that was still raging through my head.

'Think rationally, Maxon. Think about what to do next!' I told myself.  
The first thing that came to my mind was, just to marry Kriss. She was the obvious second choice, better suited as princess and future Queen than America anyways, and someone I guessed I could be happy with.  
But as I really thought about it: Did I really want to have 'the second choice' as my wife? Would it be fair to Kriss, if I chose her, because I could not have the woman I deeply loved? No it wouldn't, so I crossed that thought out of my mind.  
The second thought was to just call off the entire selection and live as a single man for rest of my life, though to be honest that would never come into question.

The only choice that would be right was to believe America. She told me she loved me, she said she had ended it, when she knew she was my choice. Could I believe her words? Could I believe her, when she had already told lies before? I decided that I really wanted to, but couldn't and that I needed a second opinion to tell me what happened and the only choice I had to get that, was to talk to the person I probably hated more than America, in that moment.

"Your Majesty, Officer Leger is here to talk to you." The guard in front of my door announced my latest visitor.  
"Let him in!"  
The guard walked in, head held high, meeting my eyes the moment he walked over the threshold.  
He came to a halt in front of me, bowed slightly and greeted me: "Your majesty."  
I couldn't help myself, but punched him into the right side of his jaw.  
He didn't react to it, just muttered something that I thought was something along the lines of "I probably deserved that."

"I want to know everything!" I told him to start to talk, start to explain his relationship to America from start to finish, and the only thing left for me to do, was to trust his words, or at least consider them and compare them to America's behaviour.

**America's POV**

When I opened my eyes my three maids where already up again and ready to help me change into something appropriate to wear for my finale day at the palace.  
A light blue, flowing dress that accentuated the colour of my eyes, embroidered with beautiful white flowers entwining my waist. The three of them put light make-up on and clipped modest dark-blue earrings to my ears. When I was ready they all stood in front of me and I realised this was not going to be easy. Nothing was going to be easy today.

"I just wanted to thank the three of you. You were the best maids I could've asked for and I am going to miss you terribly. Thank you for making me look presentable, thank you for always being there for me, especially when I needed someone to talk to!"  
Anne, Mary and Lucy tried to look somewhat reassuring but failed miserably, they reached out for me, and before I knew it, I had them all embraced in my arms. I was really going to miss them and tears started welling up in my eyes again.  
"No Lady America," Anne snuffled, "You are going to ruin your make-up with all those tears!"  
"What does it matter anyways? I'm going to go home." I told her, defeated and deeply sunk into my own misery.  
"Well, if you are going home, you will be doing it with class!"  
I smiled at them gratefully one last time and went through the door. A guard was waiting for me to escort me down to the studio and to my doom, I, myself, was responsible for.

I stopped in front of the doors to the studio, taking deep breaths, trying to calm myself.  
He was going to be in there. He was going to propose to Kriss, not going to deign to look at me and then send me home without another goodbye. It hit me hard that I was never going to be able to kiss him again, but it hit me harder; knowing I would have to watch him kiss someone else, love someone else! Again my eyes ached to let out the tears I was holding back, but Anne's words kept coming up in my mind. I could be strong; I would HAVE to be strong, trying not to give the King the satisfaction to seeing me suffer.  
My head held up high I walked into the studio, with the bright lights and all the cameras set.  
In the middle of the room on a slightly elevated platform was a table with seats around it. Maxon and Kriss were already sitting at the table whispering excitedly to each other, giving each other intimate looks.

I gulped and let myself down on the chair on Maxon's left. Even though I predicted him to not look at me once, it hurt me and it was hard to keep my façade up. I loved him deeply, and now that I knew that I had lost him, my feelings ran even deeper. I looked across the room searching for the only one I wanted to see right now. I searched and found the green eyes I was looking for. She was raising her eyebrows, silently asking what I was worried about. It was truly amazing that after all she did to me and the other girls, after all the things that were said and done, she was the only one of the remaining girls that could read me. The only one who could (and probably the only one wanting to) tell that something wasn't right, just by the look in my eyes and my more than forced smile. Slowly I shook my head and she understood. Celeste gave a reassuring smile, showing that everything would be alright, that she would be right there to catch me, when the one person that truly mattered to me, let me fall.  
The lights then dimmed down and the King and Queen sat in their chairs a little bit off centre, since Maxon and his Chosen One would be the ones in the spotlight that night.

"Welcome to the final report about the current selection", Gavril Fadaye welcomed the roaring crowd with his booming voice. Even though there only were about 100 people in the audience, there would be many, many more watching from their TV's at home.  
"As I was recently told, Prince Maxon is ready to talk about his ultimate decision! Am I right?" He looked over to Maxon.

"Thank you Gavril. You are right! I made my decision. I decided who is going to follow me through my life from now on. I decided who the ONE is that is going to know me on the deepest level there is to know. I decided on my future wife and Queen to be."  
The crowd roared again, applauding wildly.

Then the moment was there, as Maxon reached into his pocket and got hold of a tiny black velvet box.  
Now was the time. The time where he was going to reject me. Choosing Kriss over me, living a happy life with her, marrying her and choosing her to be the mother of his children.  
I could hardly swallow as he opened the box. A beautiful silver ring with a small diamond on top of it, and many smaller, light blue ones to both sides, sat on a small, black satin pillow. The future King got off his chair, swallowing hardly. For a moment he looked confused, sharing a sad look with Kriss who immediately understood what he was going to do next.  
I wasn't that fast to catch and understand the look of sadness in his eyes. Why would he be so sad, if he was proposing to his future wife?  
To my surprise, he slowly got on one knee turning to me.

My heart stopped for moment. Could this be happening? Why would he choose me after the events that took place the day before? He had got to be joking!  
He was going to turn around any moment falling on one knee in front of Kriss, asking her to be his wife and making me look like a fool so that the kingdom had something to laugh about the next day.

But it was real. I could see beads of sweat pearling down his face when he opened his mouth, speaking with a voice weaker than normal.  
"America Singer. When you first got here and I had the pleasure of meeting you, you yelled at me, kicked me and insulted me. In that moment you thought that it was impossible for you to ever have romantic feelings towards me; to ever love me."  
I looked at the grim face of King Clarkson. Even he seemed to having thought of a different outcome of this evening.

"For me, my feelings for you were clear as the daylight, from the beginning. You intrigued me, with your feisty hair and mind, seemingly the only one that did not put me high above her. You still were sceptical, but slowly, I crawled into your heart. I still cannot believe feelings that deep can be possible, but you prove to me every day, that they sure can! I can't reject you anything when you look at me with that radiant smile of yours. I love how you stand up for the things that are important to you, I love that you are always telling me the truth about what you think of me, I love your overflowing temperament, even if it is hard to deal with sometimes and has got me in a lot of trouble…" smart one he was…making the audience laugh in a moment of shock, "But mostly, I love you for just being you!" Maxon took a last deep breath, trying to calm himself before the most important words of the evening tumbled out of his mouth.  
"America Singer, are you going to give me the honour of becoming my wife?"

I couldn't hold back the tears any longer. His speech contained everything he always felt for me, but never had put into words and they were that I had wanted to hear, that I had needed to hear so badly.

"Yes Maxon. Yes I will!"  
He took my hand, put the gorgeous ring on my left finger, reached out to me and kissed me, setting my heart on fire, and releasing thousands of butterflies into my stomach.  
It was hard to me to comprehend, that it was really happening. He had finally chosen me!  
The audience erupted in applause and screams. They were crying out our names and I looked at Maxon, and when I looked into his deep brown eyes I knew he had understood. I knew he had forgiven me for my mistakes or at least was willing to oversee them, and agreed to trust me again, with all his heart.

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**Hope You liked it!**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Also edited already!**_

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**This is chapter 2, ENJOY!**

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I still couldn't really understand what had made Maxon change his mind…but I was very happy about it whatever the reason was. The lights in the studio went out, the people exited the room, chattering happily and the Royal family, which I was now a part of, as well as the Selection stood up from their chairs and made their way back into the palace.  
When I walked out Maxon took my hand in his, grabbed it tightly like he never wanted to let go of it again. I knew what he felt. Only the thought of us being apart had broken me into thousand pieces, so now, when we were finally together we were never going to let go, no matter what.  
Small festivities took place to celebrate the announcement of the future Queen. Maxon and I did not speak much, since we had to talk to several reporters, friends of the family and other people that came to see us.  
At one time I was nearly being tackled by Orabella and Noemi, who wanted to congratulate me, and immediately infected me with their happiness and overwhelming Italian joy. After them Princess Nicoletta came over to us, much more regal than her cousins, but not less excited, congratulated me with a hug, and a kiss to Maxon's cheek and promising him, that they would soon discuss further details regarding the alliance between Illéa and Italy.

After we had completed our duties of speaking to everyone that was important, Maxon and I danced almost the entire afternoon. We just danced, without thinking what had happened the day before or what would come to us the next day. Tightly embraced Maxon lead us over the dance floor, and I wish I could've been able to stop time in that moment, capturing the probably happiest moment of my life, never having to leave the comfort of being in Maxon's arms.  
But as always, good things must come to an end.

When we stopped dancing it was already late in the evening and with the King and Queen a little behind us, we left the festivity.  
Maxon pulled me around a corner where we were a little more private, looked me deep in the eyes.  
I melted as looked into his and saw the love he felt for me shining through his beautiful brown eyes.  
In that moment it wasn't necessary for both of us to say a word, we knew exactly what the opposite thought and felt. He reached out to me, placing his hand gently on my cheek, leaning slowly towards me.  
I couldn't resist. I pulled his head to mine and our parted lips met finally after all the uncertainty of the last day. Butterflies were flying through my stomach, heating my whole body, making me feel welcomed and at home in his arms.

The moment was too short for my taste, but Maxon pulled away, glanced at me and said:  
"My dear…"  
"I am not your dear!" I snapped back, but with a large grin on my face.  
"America", he answered smirking "…We still need to talk."  
My facial expression must've been readable as aver, because Maxon looked concerned, not without reason for sure. I dreaded the moment, he would confront me with all the things I had done, and all I could think about was the hope that he wouldn't change his mind, after we talked. Nevertheless I nodded, agreeing to the inescapable confrontation.  
"I know. We still have a lot of things to sort out. We definitely are always going to have to sort things out between us. But… can't it wait? Let us enjoy the moment for some time, later we can talk." I begged him. I really wasn't ready to give up my happiness yet. I wanted to enjoy the warm, fuzzy feeling for just a little bit longer.  
He smiled down to me.  
"You are right. We should better get going then, before anyone thinks we are doing something other than talk."  
He winked, which made me blush slightly. But that just made him laugh his awkward snorting laugh again, which resulted in making me laugh with him.  
We walked around the corner only to bump into the King himself.

"May I have a word with my future daughter-in-law, son?"  
I looked startled, but caught myself soon enough for King Clarkson not to see my frown.  
"Of course, father. But keep in mind that I want my Fiancée for myself, tonight!" Maxon joked.

His father gave him a quick glance, not appreciating the good mood his son was in.  
The King started to walk until we were in a small office, just the two of us. His then quite satisfied face changed into a cold, stern expression.  
"What can I do for you, your Majesty?" I asked, trying to sound in control of my voice.  
"You can do a lot of things, but because I know that you aren't all that dumb, I think you can guess what I want to talk to you about…"  
I played as I wasn't too sure about what he was going to say, when in fact I knew exactly what was on his mind.

"I don't know what got into my son. I don't know what you did to him that he likes you. All I know is that you do not suit this position and I will not allow it. My son is young and overwhelmed with the feelings of a girl towards him, he will quickly come to his mind and I will allow him to choose somebody that isn't you. Anyone else in the elite would be more suitable for this position than you. If not Kriss, he will choose Celeste and if he doesn't choose Celeste, there is also Elise, and if that still won't satisfy him, there will always be the chance of holding another Selection. Of course we would have to find a suitable reason to let the people believe you betrayed him…" He said, and I could have sworn he added a whispered "Or just get rid of you..." to his little speech.

I swallowed hardly. Tears welled up that I tried to suppress. Even if I didn't want them to, his words had hit me hardly.  
"And one last thing for you to know…" he hissed towards me "If Maxon really is too weak to get rid of you… I am going to make your life a living hell."

The King was emphasizing the last words and a couple of spit drops landed on my face. He was satisfied with the frightened look on my face and I knew I shouldn't give him this satisfaction, but I couldn't hold myself together.  
As soon as he stepped out the door, tears slowly dropped, one after another, out of the corner of my eye. One deep breath. I had to put on a brave face. For Maxon. He didn't need to know how bad his own father wanted to see me gone.  
I stepped out of the room, smiling my best fake smile and went towards Maxon who stood there talking to his mother.  
"So, what did he want?" He asked me. I gulped.  
"He just wanted to say that it is going to be a really hard time being the future queen, but he just wanted to wish me luck." Well, not everything was a lie… He did tell me that the time being Maxon's Fiancée would be very tough, I just didn't mention in front of Maxon, that the King himself wanted to make it even harder for me to be the princes wife. I knew Maxon did not believe my words, but he chose not to question them, especially not in front of his mother. I smiled at him.  
"Well then, I think I should escort you to your room now, darling."

The Queen approached us again, took my hand in hers, bent towards my ear and whispered.  
"I am glad he chose you, that is what I wished for since the Elite was announced. He loves you dearly. I can see it in his eyes! Don't let anybody tell you anything different." And with that she rushed off behind her husband, patting his back while the two of them were walking to their rooms.  
I was glad that at least one of my in-laws felt that way, already I already thought of her as a 2nd mother.

Maxon and I strolled towards my room on the second floor, since I was not yet allowed to be in the princess' suite. That was, unfortunately, what the protocol commanded.  
"I wish I could take you with me, to my rooms…"He whispered, leaning his head against mine, when we reached my door.  
"I know what you mean. I don't want to let you go yet. Now that I have you, I want to have everything of you!" I answered slightly blushing at the last words, realising they didn't sound as innocent as I meant for them to sound.  
"Could you just stay with me until I fall asleep?" I asked him, since I really didn't want to let him leave, and as Maxon didn't think twice about his answer I knew he didn't want to let go of me either.  
"I would love to, my princess."

We cuddled into my bed, after I had changed into my nightgown. I was surprised that none of my maids were there to congratulate me, but I guessed they knew I was going to have company after the celebrations.

I loved the feeling of him warming my back with his strong chest and I was sure I could get used to it. But now, that I finally was lying in my bed, feeling safe and secure, I felt all the weight of my responsibilities and the hate of the King on my shoulders and I felt the exhaustion of the past day rushing through my body, that I wasn't even able to whisper a good night to my Fiancée. My eyes got heavier and I quickly drifted into a dreamless, relaxing sleep.

When I woke up again I immediately felt cold. And I didn't need long to find out why.  
Maxon had left my side during the early morning hours to not raise any suspicions, and now my maids were drawing me a beautiful, hot bath that smelled a little like vanilla and I smiled at the thought of Maxon's favourite scent.  
That day, my maids had chosen a dark green day dress, with the sleeves ending half up my arm, that floated around my knees and made me feel pretty and actually a little regal. After my maids stopped fussing over me and more importantly the ring on my finger, I left and walked down the stairs towards the dining room, entering it and seeing all the Elite-Girls there for their last breakfast in the palace.  
I sat between Celeste and Kriss, smiling at them brightly, talking quietly about anything that went through our heads. Kriss, of course, wasn't too happy, but I felt as if she was accepting the situation. Every now and then I would raise my head to steal a smile off Maxon's face.  
When we were all ready with eating we wanted to excuse ourselves to have some of the remaining hours to do some girl-talk, but just when we stood up, the King cleared his throat clearly announcing to say something.

"Please, girls, may you sit down for just a minute."  
We all were confused, even Maxon raised one eyebrow seeming to not know what his father had planned then again.  
"I have an announcement to make! There will be a slight change of plans. I want all of the Elite to stay for an unknown amount of time. It will be safer for them here in the palace and I don't want to risk any of you getting under the radar of the rebels, since you would be returning home, where you are not as safely guarded. There are also positions I want some of you to consider, but that will be something I will discuss with everyone in private."  
My first thought was 'It's weird, why would he do such a change to the protocol, but I am so happy that Celeste is going to stay', but it was a matter of seconds I understood the full dimension of what the King just did to us-Maxon and I.  
Kriss was going to stay here and as sure I was just moments ago that she was accepting Maxon's choice, I saw the glimmer of hope in her eyes, now that she would stay near Maxon.  
The King was being true to the words he said to me the day before. He would try everything to separate Maxon and I, and he was willing to use the other girls for his own benefit. I knew for sure, that Celeste would never try something to bring Maxon and I apart, and Elise had accepted to not be his choice too long ago, that she would care for that change. The only real threat would be Kriss.  
I dearly liked her and if the circumstances would have been different I was sure we could have been very good friends, but I knew that she loved Maxon and I knew that Maxon had a part in him, that loved Kriss, too.

In that exact moment the alarm began to ring. I knew very well what this sound meant.  
We were under attack.  
The rebels were inside the palace. Again.

I needed a minute to realise that I had to stand up and get to one of the safe rooms. When I looked up, brown eyes were staring down to me and a hand was held out my way.  
"We have to run, my dear-"  
"I am not your-"  
There was a gunshot ringing in my ears, followed by some bloodcurdling screams.  
Maxon pulled my hand. A guard was fallowing us, to secure our safety, and brought us to a different safe room than the other girls and the King and Queen.  
We had been slower than the others thus the door of the royal safe-room already being shut and we were forced to get to the other one we now were standing in front of.  
The guard opened the heavy door, gave us a gentle push, followed by a loud_ click_ and we were all by ourselves.  
I hoped the others would be alright, even if I didn't have the happiest thoughts about them staying here some moments ago, I loved them, they were really important to be and I couldn't even think about losing one of them. I was grateful though that I had my Fiancée with me, and while still being a little in shock, I started to follow Maxon down the dark steps, my hand securely resting in his.

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**Soooo what do you think? Some foreshadowing in there?**  
**I hoped you liked it, and stick with my story. Need some motivation, so please review ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Also already edited!**_

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**This Chapter is a little bit on the shorter side, but nevertheless quite important.**  
**Enjoy!**

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Once we were at the foot of the steps there was no noise to be heard. It was dark and cold, even a little wet. The condition of this safe room wasn't the best, since we weren't in one of the royal ones, but in a servant-saferoom. I looked around and saw one camping bed in the right corner, a small washing area on the left and I found some food supplies next to the door.  
"Well. It could be worse." I joked to my soon-to-be husband.  
"You are right. We are safe down here and there is also another positive point that comes with us being alone down here…" I looked at him confused, "…we can talk! Now is the best time, and we had to talk sooner or later anyways!"  
I nodded and walked towards the bed, sitting down slowly and patting it to my left, motioning for him to sit down right next to me. Then there was silence.

"Soooo…I guess I should probably begin..." Maxon sighed and turned towards me, taking my cold hands into his.  
"After I left that evening, I was furious and sad and disappointed, but most of all: hurt.  
He seemed to have been such an important and huge part of your life that I felt being left out of your past! I thought I knew everything about you and then, suddenly it turns out that I am not aware that your ex-boyfriend, because of whom you had been so heart-broken in the beginning of the selection, was right here, in the palace, trying to get you back. Trying to take you from me!  
I knew that you still hadn't gotten over him, but I never expected, that you would meet him again, ever in your life! You were supposed to be my wife! In that night we talked about getting married, calling the selection off and being together forever. But you betrayed me. Again."  
That stung, but he was right. I did betray him more than once…  
"One moment, you told me you loved me and in the next I learn that you were with him at the same time you were with me. It was heart-breaking to hear that…But I suppose I do know now, how you felt all the time when I was with Kriss."

"Anyways. After I left your room I had to think. I sat down in my office and stayed up all night because I couldn't even think about going to sleep. I announced that I was going to tell Illéa my final decision so I couldn't back down anymore. I had to make a decision. And when the morning came I thought the best thing would be, to talk to a person who witnessed all the things you had told me. "

I was quite confused because the only people who knew were me, and he certainly didn't come to me that night and…  
"Aspen. I talked to Aspen. I may or may not have punched him in the face, but after that I was totally calm, just listening to his explanation of the situation. I deeply believed or at least wanted to believe that I hadn't made up the fact that you looked me in the eyes and I could see the love you felt for me in them!  
We talked for about 2 hours and I have to say: I am actually starting to like him. He explained everything. You also did that the night before, but I was in an unstable emotional state and I didn't want to believe anything you said. But he told me the truth. That at first, when you were so upset with me because of what happened between me and some of the other girls, you two were together again. Not for long, but you didn't stop it. He said he guessed you needed some comfort at that time.  
But Aspen also explained to me that you were never in it with your whole heart again he said it never felt like it did back home in Carolina, and he also told me that as soon as you knew that I wanted you, ONLY you, and you were sure about your feelings, you told him to stop.  
He said it hurt him at first and he continued trying to get back with you, but you would not stop to continuously tell him that you loved me, only me. Aspen told me that he understood that a long time ago, but still had a little part of his mind denying that you didn't love him anymore.  
He told me you said to him numerous times, that you wanted me. And I do believe him with that. And I also believe that the love in your eyes was never a thing that I made up. It was always the truth. I love you America! I forgive you, and I love you. And I think that there isn't much anymore that can destroy that love." He ended his speech whispering the last words in my ears. I shivered.

I took a deep breath to start with my own speech, but Maxon interrupted me.  
"You know you don't have to say anything! I forgive you, and I don't need you to apologize to me, I am the one to blame for not believing you!"  
I sighed and rolled my eyes.  
"Maxon Schreave! You can't always put the blame all on yourself! I am to blame! I know I should've told you earlier about him, but as I explained to you THAT night… I had my reasons, well I thought that I had important reasons not to talk to you… but I hadn't. All I wanted to do, was to protect myself, because I was afraid you would chose somebody else over me. I didn't want to hold on to you too tight, because I didn't want my heart to be shattered a second time… I used Aspen as a back-up plan…and I am deeply ashamed to admit that. My reasons were selfish…I was being selfish and I learned from that. I learned that I am not going to keep anything from you anymore, from now on. "  
Maxon widened his eyes, but was smiling all along.  
"And with what do I deserve that promise, my lovely Lady America?"  
"YOU deserve this, your Highness, because I LOVE you! I really do. When I was informed of being in the Selection, in the palace, actually going to meet you… I could've never imagined that I, ever in my life, was going to have stronger feelings for someone other than Aspen. But you made me change my mind! I do feel stronger for you. The love between me and Aspen was fuelled by the secrecy of it all, we both needed someone, and the fact that we never were able to talk about, made it so much more exciting. But now that I know you…I know that Aspen and I's love never ran as deep as ours. We found our love when we both weren't expecting it. We got to know us and we fell in love, because we liked the person in front of us. I know that now, and I am the happiest person, now that I know that we really have a chance. Again: I love you, Maxon and thank you for forgiving me my mistakes!"

"You know what they say, my love?" My Fiancée smirked down to me as I looked into his eyes, waiting for him to answer his own question.  
"Forgiveness is the final form of love."  
He reached out to me. Slowly and gently he stroked my cheek and simultaneously pulled me closer to him. When our lips touched, it felt like home. I was home in his arms; I was home in his heart.  
Maxon lifted me up on his lap, not letting go of my lips for a second. We forgot where we were and our kissing started to be more passionate.  
He slowly lifted me up again only to lay me onto the narrow bed and pulled himself over me. I grabbed his hair, pulled on it while his lips were caressing my neck with small, soft kisses. I unwillingly let out a soft moan, totally lost in the moment.

Then suddenly the door opened and a guard came bursting in and the moment was lost. Maxon and I nearly jumped out of the bed while I was flattening my wrinkled dress that guard quickly turned around and spoke.  
"I am deeply sorry, your highness, to disturb you, but I wanted to inform you that the palace is safe and the rebels are gone." He then ran up the stairs, clearly embarrassed about what he had just witnessed.  
Maxon turned to me smirking a boyish smirk.  
"We should go", he winked to me, "Oh, and by the way, my love… I love it when you blush!"  
That comment made me blush even more, but I couldn't even bother to think about it anymore because Maxon pulled me with him, up the stairs.

As we went out in the hallways, we could see that this attack had been worse than the ones before. Blood was splashed on the walls and it seemed like the blood was also used to write the usual words on the wall "We are coming". I shuddered and turned around, only to see more destruction. Broken porcelain vases crushed on the floor, small tables shuttered against doors, having been broken into halves, portraits of earlier Kings and Queens which hung in the palace on each floor, were chopped in slices that were hanging off the wall. Near the dining room was a group of people, chatting in low voices. I recognized Celeste, glad to see her alive, and ran towards her, which brought me a slight frown from Silvia. It was not regal to run as the future Queen, but I couldn't care less in that moment. I pulled her in my arms and hugged her tightly.  
" I am so glad you are ok. It seems to have been worse this time. And then you and Maxon weren't in the same saferoom as we were and that made me worry so much…" Celeste rambled with tears leaking out her eyes.  
'That's weird' I thought. Celeste never rambled. Celeste never cried. Celeste losing her cool like that meant something.  
That was when I looked into the other faces around me. Elise's eyes were dry, but I could see that she was fighting really hard to hold her composure. Then there was the King, frowning as usual, and there was Queen Amberly, a shocked expression in her eyes while she hugged her son tightly.  
I looked at them all and knew that something must have terribly gone wrong. Finally I had enough courage to ask.  
"What happened?"

Not until then I noticed one face was missing.

* * *

**Quite a cliffhanger there ;) But I think you can guess...  
so: tell me if you liked it and if I should continue with this story. **  
**Thank you for reading it anyways and I am apologizing for any grammar or spelling mist**


	4. Chapter 4-(part 1)

When Kriss body had been found we, Maxon and I, still had been waiting to get out of the safe room. Her lifeless corpse was found in a corner of the palace, blood all over her since she was shot straight in the head and by her side a small written note was laid down. "You see what we can do to her? We can do the same to your little Queen, 'Prince' Maxon. Beware!"  
This was what they told us when we were standing by their side. I had to gulp to avoid myself from vomiting and black dots were dancing while I tried to look into Maxon's direction. Tears were pooling in my eyes threatening to spill over my cheeks. Even though Kriss hadn't been my best friend in the time of the selection and above that was my biggest competition in the process of winning over Maxon's heart, nevertheless I liked her and if the circumstances had been different I was sure we would have been really good friends.  
I looked towards Maxon and saw him clenching his jaw-muscles and immediately knew that he tried very hard no to show his emotion. I walked towards him and reached out to his hand but as I was about to touch it, his hand darted back and his muscles tightened even more around his jaw. Now my tears were ready to drop, one by one trickled down my face, each one of them filled with pain. Pain of his rejection that had never hurt me that much before.  
I looked around seeing if anybody had seen the exact source of my tears. Celeste looked at me, having seen Maxon's reaction, and made her way to get to my side, reaching for my hand and rubbing soothingly over it. But as I calmed down with Celeste by my side, my view drifted towards the King. And my worst nightmare was coming true. He saw Maxon's reaction, but more important he saw his rejection! Although Maxon was near me, and Celeste was directly beside me, he made his way towards me and began to speak, or more particularly spitted his words in my direction.  
"You see this? She had to die because you are still here! They wanted you, but they could not have you. So they decided to kill HER! You see Maxon's unshed tears, his feelings which he tries so hard to control? He regrets his decision. He regrets choosing the wrong person, choosing you! And now, he doesn't have the chance to change his choice! He has to stick with you. The one who is responsible for the murder of the woman he loved! You will soon regret it even more that you stayed here. I guarantee it!"  
I couldn't say a word. I couldn't even think because he just found my biggest weakness. The fear of Maxon not wanting me, the fear that he actually chose me out of an impulse of weakness, not because I was the One.  
I felt Celeste taking a deep breath, readying herself to jump to my defence, but I just squeezed her hand tightly, telling her with that gesture that it would not do any good and that her speaking openly against the king would make it even worse.  
Before the King turned around he started to speak again.  
"Oh, I nearly forgot!" he smiled wickedly at me, "There was word that your home province- Carolina was it? - was also attacked tonight. The reels were there for your family."  
My emotions weren't under my control anymore; I started to hyperventilate and was shivering uncontrollably. Celeste tried to reassure me that everything would be fine. But as much as I was grateful for her being by my side, it didn't calm me down.

"Tell me!" I urged the King to answer me, "Tell me exactly what happened to my family!"  
He smiled again, and at that moment, I vowed to myself, that when nobody was willing to kill the King, I would do it without hesitating a second.  
"Well... Your family was still in their house when the rebels started to attack your hometown, there were deaths, many deaths in the city."  
I gulped, preparing myself to hear the news no one ever wanted to hear.

"But I can reassure you that your family is safe. They made it out of the house shortly before the rebels attacked. Everything owed to the guards we stationed at your family's house…  
Would it have been MY decision, I don't know if I would have acted-"

"Enough father! America went through enough today, she doesn't have to deal with you mad ideas. Just let it be!"  
Anyone who heard him would have thought that Maxon was talking normally to his father, but everyone who knew their relationship, also knew that this was a brave thing for Maxon to say. I was grateful for that. It gave me some reassurance that he still cared for me, and wanted to protect me from his father, even if it meant putting himself in danger of his father's anger.  
King Clarkson frowned, just turned around and shouted.  
"Amberly! We are going to go into our chambers. NOW!"

I turned to Maxon, Celeste still holding my hand, and took a breath preparing myself to talk to Maxon.  
" Maxon, I am-"  
"Don't America! Just don't. We will see each other later. I want you in my chambers tonight. Oh, and if you want to, you can let your family be brought here into the palace, they'll be safer in here." And with that, emotionless, he quickly turned around, nearly running through the hallways, away from the place he had heard the woman he had loving feelings towards, was dead.  
I looked at Celeste and she nodded.  
"You should go after him, Mer. You and I both know that he doesn't want to push you away. He is hurt. And he is going to need someone to hold him, when his family, who should do this, won't."  
"You are right. He needs me, even if he thinks he doesn't.  
Celeste? Would you do me a favour?"  
"Of course! You know I would do anything you wanted me to do."  
"Please call my family. Tell them that a car is waiting for them to come here to the palace. They shall pack the things they need the most, and the rest they'll get here. Tell them to come as fast as they can!"  
The girl I thought, at the beginning of the Selection, would be the girl who I hated the most and couldn't trust just nodded, hugged me tightly and told me to go after the man I loved.  
I started to walk, but turned around again.  
"Oh and Celeste! Tell them I love them and I am very happy when they are here!"  
With that I ran after him, trying to catch him before he turned around another corner.

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Ok...So I know that this is not much, but I didn't want to let you guys without an update. But I promise I will try to update again this week, so you get Chapter 4- Part 2 ;)  
Thanks for the reviews from last time, they make me very happy!  
Et Merci beaucoup! Pour mes amis francais et leur soutien! (Yeah...my french isn't really good ^^ But anyways Thank you!)

Would love to hear about what you thought about this rather short chapter :(


	5. Chapter 4-(part 2)

"Maxon! Wait!"  
He turned around his lower lip trembling slightly and he spoke to me shakily.  
"America. If you want to talk to me right now, please wait for us to be in my room!"  
With that he turned around again and nearly ran upstairs.  
We were led in the room by guards that were standing in front of Maxon's chambers and I followed him inside. He sat down on the edge of his bed, while I was standing still at the door, the physical space between us portraying the emotional ravine that was present between us.

"Ames…I…" His voice broke and finally the tears he held back for so long were leaving a trail down his face and yet he continued to speak to me, even though his voice cracked numerous times, which led to my heart being shattered every time I heard his silent sobs.  
"You know that I love you! But you have to understand…I loved her too! She was always so genuine and regal… and just… so sweet! And now? She is supposed to be dead! I just…I-"He, my beautiful, strong and brave Fiancée broke into tears. Even though the slight burning feeling of jealousy crawled up my stomach, I suppressed that feeling, running towards him and reaching out to put my arms around him. Although he was this strong man, he needed someone to hold him. He needed someone to hold him together and I was grateful that I could be that person.  
"I don't want you to misunderstand me, but I really loved her. You might have been the one that grabbed my heart as soon as I saw you and stayed there stubbornly and wouldn't get out of it, Kriss was…she tiptoed in my heart as light as a feather that when I actually understood it was too late…"  
And I just held him. He needed me to be there for him, not me being a jealous Fiancée giving him a hard time for loving another woman.  
"You know, my Maxon? I love you! I… know how you feel and I want to help you with that. You have to help me though, on how to help you!"  
"Ames? Just hold me! Please!"  
And with that I held him, and as I held him the tears in my eyes started to drop out my eyes, one by one. We were here, together, and were shedding tears for a beautiful girl, who had been more than a friend to us.

The next morning I woke up in a really uncomfortable position. We must have fallen asleep on the edge of the bed, curled up around each other, grieving with each other.  
"Morning, Beautiful!" I heard him whisper.  
I turned my head around to see my Prince smiling sadly at me.  
"How are you doing?" I asked.  
"I am better. I needed that yesterday…I needed you, so thanks for staying here with me!" He gave me a small kiss on my nose, smiled and got out of bed.  
"I am going to get us breakfast, we can eat up here. But in a few hours our presence is awaited in one of the meeting rooms…to discuss…matters…" he choked the words out.  
I nodded and curled myself up again in the blankets until a pervasive smell of scrambled eggs reached my nostrils. We started to eat the delicious breakfast we had in front of us, spread out on the bed.  
"You know I really appreciate you being here for me, America?" I nodded again, not being able to speak with my full mouth.  
"I wanted to clear things up. What I said yesterday…I meant it. I did love Kriss."  
The chewing of the food in my mouth suddenly got harder to manage.  
"But I want you to know, that there was never a second I felt stronger for her than for you. There were maybe times that I wished it had been that way, but I never did. And I never regretted my choice!"  
I let out a sigh, relieved that he had cleared his previous statement up.  
Just when we were ready eating, a knock was heard on the door.  
"Come in!" Maxon called out. One of the guards opened the door and spoke.  
"You majesty, Lady America's family just arrived a few minutes ago, and the Queen figured the Lady America wanted to know-"  
He couldn't even finish his sentence properly, since I got quickly out of bed reaching for Maxon's hand drawing him with me out of his room. I didn't even care about the fact that I wore the same dress I had worn when we were sent in the safe rooms together. All that mattered to me in that moment was that my family was alright and that they were waiting for me right there in the palace.  
We ran down the stairs, horribly inappropriate for a soon to be princess and her prince, but that didn't matter to me in that moment.

When I reached the foot of the stairs I saw them. Mom, May, Gerard, even Kenna, James and little Astra were there waiting for me with shiny eyes. After we hugged each other one after another I asked.  
"Kota is not here I suppose?"  
My mom answered "No, America. But he is safe and you don't have to worry about him. He just wasn't invited to go with us…" I nodded and Maxon stood up behind me, ready to shake all the hands available.  
He took both, Kenna's and May's hands into his slightly kissing them and welcoming them as the future sisters-in-law. He then shook James hand introducing himself and slightly brushed his hand down Astra's little cheek to greet her. Gerard got a manly handshake which made him proud and stand up even taller and then Maxon reached out to my mother, hugging her surprisingly, what made her blush slightly because of the unexpected affection. I know I wasn't supposed to hear what Maxon said to her, but I heard it anyways, and what I heard made my heart swell a little more.  
"Thank you, for allowing me to marry your daughter. Thank you for being the one who made it possible for me to get to know her at the first place" He winked at my mother, turned around, took my hand in his as if this was the most normal thing, and spoke.  
"We will show you your rooms now! And then I guess you are all very hungry?"  
The deep growl out of Gerard's stomach was enough answer for Maxon. He giggled and if I hadn't been with him for that long amount of time, I wouldn't have noticed that the weight of a sudden loss of a beloved person weighed heavily on his shoulders.

* * *

so as I promised here is the 2nd part of chapter 4.  
It isn't really exciting or anything... just the cooling off after a big storm has passed.  
I hope you liked it, and I hope I can update at the weekend.

Let me know if you enjoyed the calmness? or should I do a little more drama (not that I hadn't planned it already... ;))  
so thanks and you may could leave a review here after you're done reading THIS!


	6. Chapter 5

5 days. 5 days since the severe rebel attack that had let more deaths than just Kriss' behind it. 5 days since Maxon and I had lost a dear friend.  
It was the second day after Kriss' death when the King came into Maxon's office. I was in there too and for a moment something was more important for the king than shooting me evil looks.  
"May I have a word Maxon?" The King asked, with that implying to me that I was asked to leave the room.  
"She can stay father!"  
King Clarkson shook his head in disbelief, but didn't say anything else.  
"There are reasons to assume…" he cleared his throat "That Kriss was not who she appeared to be. We assume her…to have been having connection to the northern rebels." There. It was out it the open now. The King found out, what I had known for several weeks now, but I had completely forgotten about her connection to the northern rebels over the tumultuous last days. I was quite ashamed that I didn't tell Maxon about my knowledge, but now that the King had told him, it wouldn't be a problem anymore.  
Maxon's face went white as he realised what his father said.  
"So…even the person I thought was the trustworthiest, the only girl in the selection that was genuine and the most regal of them all, ALSO lied to me. Betrayed me."  
That had hurt. Hearing him say that, even though I knew he was just hurt…  
I gulped hardly, sat up straight and got out of my seat to leave the room. When Maxon realised where I was going I had already opened the door and left the room. I couldn't hold back my tears anymore. I knew I wasn't innocent in the process of Maxon feeling betrayed by any girl, he had loved, but I thought we had gotten through that. That we were ok.  
I got into my room. I needed something to calm down. I let my gaze wander through my room and my eyes immediately stopped at the sight of my piano. I hadn't played in a really long time and I needed something to get my mind off the things that were going on in my life at the moment. I sat down on the stool and let my hands float over the piano keys slightly before I started to play. And it DID help. I didn't think about the problems I had in the world I lived in. I didn't think about the fact that another innocent life was lost or that Maxon and I still had some problems to solve. The only thing that mattered to me in that moment was the individual notes that floated out of the piano. The notes that were unified into a beautiful mesmerizing piece of music.  
Only when I let the last sound of music fade away I realised that I had a listener.

"I haven't heard you play in Ages, Ames"  
"Well…we didn't see each other in Ages, Kenna" I turned around and smiled at her. I have missed her since she moved out of our home back in Carolina, though I was happy for her that she had found the perfect husband,  
"I've missed you Ken…" And again, suddenly, I burst into tears. Kenna didn't ask what was going on, and that was what I loved about her so much. She was there for me no matter what. She was to me what I was to May. The big sister, the big sister that you could turn to with you worries, that you could ask anything without having to worry about being laughed at.  
In that moment I didn't want to talk about myself and I certainly didn't want to wallow in self-pity. So I talked to Kenna instead,  
"So how is Astra? And what's going on between you and James? Everything ok?"  
A little girl talk wouldn't harm anyone.  
"Astra is the perfect little daughter! I know every mother has to say that about her child, but seriously! She sleeps through the night, hardly cries at any time and is just really…content. I love her more than anything and I hope you get to have that one day. I know you are going to have that one day! The feeling of her kicks inside my belly a few month ago were the most beautiful I have ever felt! I knew she was going to be like heaven!" She smiled at me with dreamy eyes and sighed softly.  
"With James is everything ok. I mean since Astra's birth we don't have as much free time for ourselves as before…but honestly? I like it that way. We just feel like a family now. "  
I was lost in the dreams of my future with Maxon and I knew that we would get through the differences we had from time to time. Also, when I thought about it, for what I was upset about now! Well…we had got through much worse together.  
Kenna faced me again with a leer expression on her face.  
"So…America…" she spoke slowly "Did you and Maxon…do IT?"  
As usual my face burnt. My cheeks were blushing since Kenna's question made me really uncomfortable.  
"Oh come on, Ames! You are a grown, not to mention an engaged, woman now! You can't blush anymore when we talk about that stuff!" While saying these words to me, Kenna winked and laughed amused.  
"No. Kenna. We didn't do anything! We are not even married…yet. And I am still living in the room for the Selected…"  
"Oh Ames! Don't be such a prude! Sooner or later you are going to sleep with him, and I want to be informed about it immediately!"  
While Kenna was still laughing and my face had the colour of a tomato, a knock was to be heard from the door.

"America? Can I talk to you?" A greatly familiar voice called through the door.  
I blew a kiss on Kenna's cheek and I indicated to her that she should better be leaving right now.  
When I opened the door, a surprised Maxon looked after Kenna as she left the room in a hurry.  
He entered the room without asking me a second time and sat directly onto my bed.  
"We have to talk."  
I sat down next to him, leaving a little space between us.  
"I didn't want to hurt you earlier. It just hurt me to hear about Kriss real intentions of getting here…"  
I nodded and started to speak. "You know Maxon. When I left the room, I really was hurt. It had hurt me to hear you say those words, but as I calmed down, playing the piano again…" I smiled with that thought "I just realised that you were right. I am not as innocent as I would like to be and I think I overreacted in your office earlier. Nevertheless, I can assure you, that Kriss may had come here with other intentions, but as soon as she got to know you better, she fell in love with you. She didn't lie to you in that case. When it comes to the love she felt for you, she was honest."  
Maxon thankfully nodded, and got closer to me and gave me a tight hug.  
"So we are ok?"  
"We are ok, my darling."  
We continued to hug for some time, but Maxon released me out of his hug, earlier than I wanted to.  
"I have to talk to you about something. Due to the fact that you are the future Queen, my father decided that you should plan Kriss' funeral, with a little help from my mother. He says that it is never early enough to learn the tasks of a Queen. I am sorry, but I couldn't do anything about it."  
My Fiancèe looked at me sadly and I gulped. That wasn't going to be easy. But honestly? What was ever going to be easy?  
"It is alright. I can do it, and I know that your mother will be a rock to lean on. She knows what to do, and I will learn from the best."  
Happy with my answer, and the fact that I wasn't angry at him, Maxon stood up, took my hand and said. "Let's go have dinner, my dear."

Another thing that had changed since the Selection had ended. I couldn't be angry at him anymore. Not even when he called me 'my dear', the name I hated the most during the selection.  
Because now I knew! I knew that I WAS certainly the only one who would get called like that by the heir of the throne of Illéa and the love of my life.

* * *

**So tell me what you thought? It wasn't really...shocking or thrilling, but I thought I could give those two lovebirds a little break :)**

**I am sorry if I am not able to upload so frequently anymore, even though I am going to try!**  
**But in 4 weeks I have my finals...so I am really busy, studying right now, to get the best possible result I can get :D**

**Thank you for the new followers and readers! Leave a commetn here;)**


	7. Chapter 6

_Hello my friends...First! I wanted to apologize that I let you wait that long... But I had much going on in my life...My final exams were up, 3 weeks ago, and before that I had to study like hell...don't know the grades yet, but I guess it was ok :) After that I was on vacation, were I actually wrote a part of the next chapter on the plane back home (because I got bored ^^). Well...and my realtionship of 3 years ended...so I am a bit down about that too..._  
_Well enough talk here! I hope you enjoy this chapter (it is.. I guess another cheesy/easy going one...except the beginning..but well :D). I would hav made it longer, but I didn't want to keep you guys waiting for any longer. So here it is: Chapter 6_

* * *

The sixth day after Kriss' passing was her funeral. The Funeral I have had to plan because of my future status as the Queen. When Maxon had to tell me that his father demanded that I should be the one planning the funeral of a friend of mine he was devastated. He knew I would have a hard time planning the last 'Goodbye' to a very good friend, but I had to follow the Kings requests or otherwise I would have to feel his anger. Luckily Queen Amberly decided to help me even though her husband said it was to be MY task. With her by my side I did it. I planned who was to come, who had the right to say a few words and if the funeral would be closed to the public. Decisions, decisions, decisions.  
Now that the day had come I was quite nervous, scared that I had done something wrong or that I would insult her parents in any way.

"We are here to say our last goodbyes to a member of the royal family. To a girl that was so regal and generous and ready to be our Queen someday. It was tragic what happened to her and we, the royal family, want to pay tribute to such a true lady." The King stepped down the podium, walked to Kriss' parents to shake their hands and express his condolences. Some musicians stepped on the podium and began to play Kriss' favourite song that she had told me about some time ago. The Queen passed by her parents and when she stepped away they walked into my direction. I was nervous and my palms were sweaty, so I had to dry them on my black dress and hoped it would remain unnoticed.  
"Hello Sweetheart." Her mother greeted me, gave me two small kisses on my cheek and hugged me tightly. I was quite surprised because I hadn't thought Kriss' parents would be so welcoming towards me, since Kriss herself wasn't the most open person, but I was relieved that they were so open.  
"Thank you for the beautiful tribute, America. We appreciate your effort and we can be lucky that such a close friend to our daughter was the one to plan her funeral…Thank you very much for making her last day special to us!"  
With that Kriss' father rubbed my back slightly, and afterwards put his arm around his devastated wife.

"You did well, Ames." Maxon wrapped his arms around me and that made me break down. Small tears were rolling out of the corner of my eyes, and I turned around pressing my face into Maxon's warm and comforting chest. It wasn't just Kriss' funeral that had made me this emotional, the dark colours, the grieving faces, the speeches. Everything reminded me of my father's funeral. I missed him horribly and I could have needed his warming hand against my back or his soothing words for my soul. But he wasn't there anymore.  
Maxon rubbed my back slightly, trying to soothe me and after a while I was able to regain my composure, and I lifted my head. I looked around slightly only to see the majority of the people had left and faced Maxon again to press a kiss on his lips. I needed his warmth right now, he was probably the only one, besides my father, who could have comforted me in that moment and I was thankful for him.

Later that day Maxon and I were going up into his room, after a last dinner in honour of Kriss, the guests had left and our presence wasn't needed anymore. I was actually quite relieved in that moment, because everything went quite well, for a funeral, and I made, as said by Kriss parents, a beautiful tribute for Kriss. My hand was laying in Maxon's warm big hand as we were climbing up the stairs. He opened the door for me as we passed by the guards in front of his room and ordered some tea up into his room for us to drink.  
"Where do you want to sit, Ames?" He asked me softly while looking deeply into my eyes.  
I turned around to search for the best place to sit and have a nice evening. My eyes went to the balcony, but I immediately scrapped that idea out of my head since it was quite cold at this time of the day. My eyes wandered further through the room and got caught on the big, fluffy bed, but as soon as I thought about what that request would have to look like, I blushed and my face turned a bright red colour, leaving Maxon to chuckle slightly. Then my glance went towards the loveseat in front of the beautiful fireplace. It looked very cosy and Maxon and I would be near to each other, but it wouldn't be too intimate which made it the perfect place for a nice, calm evening.

"At the fireplace. I like it there." I answered and smiled.  
We turned towards the fireplace and Maxon was leading me to the comfortable looking loveseat which was made out of dark red velvet.  
"Take a seat, my lady" He said with a big gesture towards the sofa.  
We sat down and I let my shoes fall off my feet, on the floor. I cuddled myself up against Maxon's chest and let out a small sigh. Maxon put his arms around me and held me tight and in that moment I wished I could stop time. I wanted to be here forever, in Maxon's welcoming arms, seeming as if they could protect me from all evil in this world.  
One of Maxon's servants brought in the tea, poured it into two cups and then left us alone at the warm reassuring fireplace.  
"I know today was a sad day and I know that me changing the topic like that is quite inappropriate, but I wanted to talk to you about something…" He started and to my surprise his cheeks were flushing slightly. I took a lot to make Maxon blush like that, so I was very curious what he wanted to talk about. I shot him a look that said that he should continue.  
"Well…you know…since we are going to get married…finally.. I thought we should talk about our further future.." He was blushing again and I realised what he wanted to talk about...  
"At least two!" I said. He looked at me quite confused.  
" You wanted to talk about your future with me, didn't you?" he nodded "Well and I answered your unsaid question! I want at least 2 children, Maxon! Actually I want a bit more than that. I have always loved my family, especially the fact that I was never alone. When Kota left and moved away…Gerad was there to fill the house with laughter and joy. And when Kenna left, I always had May around me to talk about girl stuff. I just feel that I need that for my family too!"  
I looked at Maxon and he smiled at me before starting to explain his wish for the future.  
"You know…I am really happy that we agree in that point, Ames! As much as you like a huge family because you yourself grew up with one; I love to have a big family because I had never had one! I mean I basically grew up to be an adult…I had never had siblings to fool around with or older brothers to talk to…and I want my kids to have, what I never had!" He smiled at me, mouth wide open and a look in his eyes that reminded me of Gerad when he first was allowed to play with a ball outside, even though he was supposed to try and draw a painting. I loved to see the excitement in Maxon's eyes, since they were sparkling like melted chocolate and while I was staring at his beautiful eyes he continued to talk.  
"But you know what, my love?" He asked, now grinning cheekily.  
I raised one eyebrow "What Maxon?" confused of what he was going to say next.  
"You do know…That to have children, we have to do…certain things…" While saying those words he started to slide his fingers gently down my arm which caused me to shiver slightly…even though that didn't stop my face to turn into a bright red colour.  
"Maxon…"  
"You don't have to say anything…I just want you to know…that I will give you…us…time! If you don't want to rush things…I can understand, but if you do want to rush things, I wouldn't say no to that either" I grinned at me and there was something different in his eyes, not the usual affection he showed towards me every time he looked at me…more of a.. Longing towards me. I guessed it was actually lust I saw in his eyes. As I realised what he wanted from me, well what his eyes wanted from me, there was a sudden twist in my lower stomach, something I had never felt before. It wasn't a bad feeling, just really unfamiliar. I leaned towards Maxon and our lips were moving closer and closer. The unfamiliar feeling increased and I stopped just a centimetre away from his lips, just because I liked to tease him like that. Suddenly, with one big jolt and an animalistic sound that I had never heard him make before, Maxon's lips crushed onto mine. The time would stop around us, nothing was moving, but us and in that moment there was nothing that could pull us apart. His soft tongue was touching my bottom lip, seeming as if he was asking for permission to part my lips, which I granted him happily. This kiss was definitely very different from the ones we shared before. It was very heated and the first time in our relationship I could actually feel that thin line we were moving on…the thin line to take the next step in our relationship.  
But I didn't want to cross it… yet. I was actually enjoying the feeling of what we could do…but would not do. That feeling made the tingling in my lower stomach become even hotter, as to why I put my hand onto Maxon's near chest to stop him in his movement.  
I guess he knew why I stopped him in that moment, because he smiled at me while pulling away his hand that was crawling under my dress before.  
"You know…I just…I just want to wait. I can't say I don't want it now…but I enjoy the feeling that we still have something left that will bring us closer to each other… Right now, I just want to fall to sleep in your arms, curled up in front of you and be woken up the next morning by small kisses you place on my neck."  
"You do know that you are very demanding right now, Ames?" He pulled his eyebrow up and smiled at me "but I like it that way!" He said right before lifting me up into both of his arms and bringing me to that huge bed in his room.  
"I guess your wish will be granted my lady…" he said after we changed into more comfortable clothes to wear for the night. Maxon pulled the bed spread up and put his arms around me, burying his forehead in the crook of my neck and whispering the most perfect words into my ear.  
"You are my everything Ames!" I closed my eyes, enjoying the warmth Maxon was giving me through his chest.

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I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know!

Oh and I hope I can get to write the next chapters more frequent again...since I have only 3 1/2 weeks of school left; IN MY LIFE! Yaaay :D  
(NExt time I will explain a bit further why I won't have a beta reader...I hope you guys can understand me and especially the story even though it is obviously not in perfect english :P)  
See you next time!


	8. Chapter 7

**I apologize for not updating, but some personal stuff has come up and I accidentally lost my notebook were all my notes for this story were written down. Luckily I managed to find it and write the newest chapter to 'a different Outcome'.**  
**Before I let you read (well if you want to anyways, you can obviously just scroll down) I wanted to ask you if I should continue this story? I noticed not many reviewed the last time, and I just have the feeling that you guys are not hooked up anymore...if you aren't..I would be pleased for some constructive criticism! I know the last chapters seemed like fillers..but I seriously wanted to give the royal household a break... **  
**Anyways! I hope you enjoy this little chapter of mine and you are not too mad at me, for letting you wait so long!**

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It was a Sunday morning which meant: no Princess and Prince Business that day. Maxon was free from his royal work, so we decided to spend the day with our families. Well, except the King himself…he had refused to come to the meeting of our families. Even though it didn't really matter to me; out of obvious reasons; Maxon was slightly crushed. Despite his father's abusive style of parenting Maxon still wanted his father around or at least his approval in certain things, I knew that, although he'd never told me.  
It was a sunny day, so we decided to go into the huge sunroom, in which flowers were blossoming and the small stream of water, ending into a pond, gurgling slightly. There were small trees here and there, some full of oranges and some full of rose blossoms, whose smell lingered through the large room. It was all covered up with a roof out of glass that let the sun shine through it and warm my pale skin. My mother had a nice time talking to Amberly after she had got over the fact that she was actually speaking to the Queen of Illéa. I looked around the 'room' only to see Celeste talking to Kenna, widely smiling. It was nice to see my family and friends to get along so well. I heard a small scream from no other than my little brother running over the grass following a football. Behind Gerad and the ball, a larger figure was running after them and it only took me a second to recognize it was Maxon, heavily out of breath I might add, following my little brother. The whole scene made me smile and forget in which state our country was in right now as well as the troubles I had with no other than the King himself. Nevertheless I missed one face. It took me some time to figure out where May was. I found her on a bench hidden by some rose bushes and sitting there completely alone. I slowly walked to her.  
"Hey, beautiful sister" I greeted her and smiled. She truly was beautiful! Her and I looked similar but she had this energy radiating from her, that made her even more beautiful. Her hair was slightly darker and her eyes were bigger and were a darker green than mine. All in all she looked everything but ordinary and I had no doubt se would find a nice man that was going to look out for her in the future.  
Right now, however, her eyes were shadowed by sadness and the fact that my usually bubbly sister was sitting alone behind a bush showed that something was going on.  
"Hey Ames…" she greeted me.  
"So I can see that you are not quite happy today? What's going on? You want to tell me?"  
She thought about it for a moment before patting at the space next to her on the bench, indicating to me to sit down.  
"I guess I want to talk about it…" I just stayed silent, knowing she would spill it any second.  
"So…you know when you went away I was really sad that you left and decided to get my mind off of you leaving. Some four threw a small party and I was invited, since, you know you kind of got famous." She giggled slightly at that and I had to smile, saying: "Well the selection has it's perks!"  
"Yeah in a way I actually had a great night, because that night I wasn't a five, I wasn't even the sister of the 'maybe-future-Queen'…I was just myself, enjoying the tie with some new faces that seemed to accept me for who I am." I nodded showing her that I listened and knowing that now had to come the part of which she was so sad about.  
"Well, I got to now some new people… including a boy named Carson." Oh I see were this is going.  
"We started to talk to each other and we got along pretty well, so after some time we started to meet each other more often. Oh Ames…he is so cute! His hair is a darkish brown and his eyes are ocean blue! I mean a boy with brown hair and blue eyes? I also liked his personality and how he treated me! Not like I am in a lower caste, but he treated me like a princess. So Mom doesn't know that I like him that much, but when we were rushed away while the rebel attack happened I couldn't say good bye to him. I don't even know if he's ok! Furthermore, I mean I know I liked him, but I never knew how much it was going to hurt when we were apart… I just miss him America! And I am scared for him…I really want to see him again!"  
By the time she finished her story, a tear escaped her eye and was slowly running down her cheek. I really didn't know what to say to her, as to why I just threw my arms around her, patting her hair slightly to calm her down.  
"You know what May?" I asked her my hands on her cheeks, turning her head in my direction so that she could look into my eyes.  
"What?" May sniffed.  
"If you really want to and if you are sure that he felt the same way about you…I could ask Maxon to look out for him…We have connections and I am sure Amberly is willing to help, too…"  
Her eyes grew wide, a small smile appeared on her face.  
"Really? You could do something like that? Could he come here, too?"  
I laughed at her enthusiasm.  
" I don't know about him coming here, but I do know we can reach out to him and you could write or call him. I mean you are 14, May! There are going to be other men in your life! But if you think that in the moment Carson is the one you need, the least thing I can do for you, is to get you in contact with him! And right now, I have an idea on how I am going to cheer you up, little Lady!"  
I reached for her hand, pulling her up with me and started to walk towards Celeste and Kenna.  
"Celeste? Ken? We have some cheering up to do!" I didn't even have to say anything else, because 'cheering up' was a code word for Celeste, the girls and I. Every time someone was upset, we gathered in a room of ours and tried on dresses as well as making ourselves beautiful. I, myself didn't really care for the dressing up part, but I loved the evenings when we were just some girls doing some girls-stuff.

May was seated in one of the chairs as my maids and Celeste started to do her make-up. As well as I knew May, I was sure beforehand that that was something she would enjoy, but the smile she had on her lips showed that she was having the time of her life at the moment.  
Kenna walked up to me and sat down next to me on the fluffy couch.  
"She is so happy here. May was always destined to be more than an artist that hid behind the art she produced. I think she found her place here. As well as you America! I've actually never seen you happier than with Maxon! I know that you don't really care that much about the fortune of having enough money to buy all the dresses you want, but I do know that you are happy here, because you are with Maxon. And that makes me happy, Ames!" Kenna finished smiling at me brightly.  
"I know what you mean Kenna. May blossoms like a flower when she is here! She is going to be everybody's darling and will probably be more admired than the princess." I laughed because I knew how May could wrap everybody around her little finger in a matter of seconds and if she would have been old enough to compete for the prince, she would have for sure won the competition.  
"But enough of us, Ken. How is it with a child in your relationship? How is Astra doing in general?"  
"It is definitely different…but not a bad different…if you know what I mean? It is like… she makes us grow together even more. Another reason why I can't think of a life without James! She is perfection and she makes our life even more perfect. We may not have been the richest and wealthiest people in Illéa, but we feel like we are one of the happiest! It just feels right!  
And to come to your second question…I have never seen a more pure human being than her and the minute I held her in my arms, I forgot the world around me! I forgot the pain I went through because of her birth, or even that I had to go through it without you! I forgot anything and anyone but her! And in that moment…I knew that I would do ANYHING to protect her and her future."  
While Kenna spoke her face lit up like the first sunlight in the morning. Her eyes sparkled like diamonds and her smile radiated towards me in such a way that I couldn't help myself wishing for similar feelings for Maxon and I. I was lost in my thoughts until I saw Kenna's mocking smile towards me.  
"Sooo…tell me Ames? When are you and Maxon planning on having children? Are you…practising at the moment?" She grinned and winked at me with the last few words knowing I would be slightly uncomfortable with such a question. My face, as always, started to redden until I felt the burning warm feeling that told me my face turned into the same colour as my hair.  
Kenna started laughing at me and put her hand soothingly on my shoulder.  
"Oh come on America! I am your sister after all! You don't have to be embarrassed to talk to your older sister about things like that. So tell me… Have you and Maxon…"  
"Slept together? No Ken! There was just…too much going on and we never had the feeling it would be the best timing to start trying for a child with the instability of our country!  
Nevertheless, we were talking about it just yesterday and I think, well I know, that it is going to happen sooner or later…  
We love each other, we both want to have children, we are also expected to have children, so I guess there is nothing really that prevents us to start trying…"  
Kenna seemed to feel my nervousness about the topic and tried to calm me down.  
"Are you scared?" She looked at me with her beautiful eyes, that reminded me so much of our father's.

"I don't think 'scared' is the right word…I am really nervous about it. What if he doesn't like the way I look…or what if our relationship will be boring after we take the last big step? I am just… What if our children won't be healthy? What if I actually can't have children? There are just so many thoughts in my head right now…"  
"Look Ames. You said you do love him right?"  
I nodded "Right."  
"And you know that he loves you, right?"  
"Yeah."  
"So I don't see any problem for you! You two are right for each other and you both are going to overcome every obstacle that is put in your way, ok? Trust me Ames, there is nothing you need to worry about! Your children are going to be the most beautiful children ever and you know that you have your family always there to hold your backs!"  
I smiled at me beautiful big sister and hugged her tightly, not needing words to tell her how thankful I was for her.  
"You want to see what they've done to our sister?" Kenna asked me and I nodded to agree.

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**I realised I promised to tell you why I won't get a Beta-reader:**  
**I am a slow updater ( as you might have realised ^^) and with the Beta's I've encountered with before I neede to wait another period of time, that means if I ever got a reply...**  
**I don't think my English is unreadable... but I know that I make some (if not many...) grammar and comma mistakes... I hope you guys can read over some of those mistakes and are okay with me not to get it looked over...**  
**I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I would be very happy if you could answer the question I asked at the beginning of this chapter...**  
**love Hanna ;)**

**P.S. thank you for my Spanish-speaking friend who reviewed on every chapter! I hope I got the point of your reviews (google translator isn't that great ^^) And I tried to avoid typos, so you wouldn't have a hard time reading this story :) **


	9. Chapter 8

**I think that this is one of the longest chapters I have written yet! :) I really hope you'll enjoy it!**

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It was now 2 months after Kriss' death and despite of us mourning her death, Maxon and I decided that it would finally be time to get married. I was really excited, but also REALLY nervous and anxious. There was so much that needed to be done before our big day!  
Thankfully I didn't have to plan the whole wedding by myself, and to be honest I wasn't even allowed to if I wanted. The King was quite clear with me being 'overseen' by many people, because I might plan something to knock him off the throne. Yes…I couldn't imagine or wish for a more heart-warming and kinder father-in-law.I was indeed a lucky lady on that matter…  
Nevertheless I wasn't as heartbroken to not being able to plan the wedding by myself as some people believed I was. I was actually very grateful, since the people that would mostly monitor my behaviour would be Silvia and Queen Amberly. My mother and sister as well as Celeste also had their part in planning the wedding and I appreciated all the people around me. Today was my most anxiously awaited day of them all…My maids, which were only Mary and Anne, would present 4 different dresses to me and I got to choose THE one. The one dress I would be wearing at maybe the most important day of my life!

I was sitting on the cream-coloured loveseat in my room, which was still the room I had lived in during the Selection. My sister, seated right next to me, held my hand and tried to calm my nerves while we watched Mom and my mother-in- law (to be) whispering over all the arrangements that had to be made. I was delighted with the relationship my two moms, as I liked to call them, had formed over the last couple of weeks and I was glad that my mother was finally able to smile again and even sometimes forget that her better half would never be by her side again.

Another thing I was too afraid to even think about. Since I was little all I wanted for my wedding weren't white gowns and a huge guest list, but for my father to approve my future husband. I mean I knew that he approved Maxon, but it would have meant the world to me if he could have lead me through the aisle towards my fiancée, approving my choice by placing my hand from his to my husband's. I had never thought about what I would do when he would be gone. The thought of him not being by my side had never crossed my mind before it happened…and sadly I had to come up with another idea of how to get through that part of the wedding.

"My Lady?" a knock formed on my door and Mary's voice asked for entrance.  
"Come in!" I said and while I was just finishing my words, the door opened and very enthusiastic 3 girls marched into my room.  
Wait…three?  
There was Anne and Mary, both with one dress placed over their arms and after them followed a very familiar face, two clothes bags spread over her thin arms. I should have known better by now, but as I recognized who it was, I jumped off the seat and right into a big bear hug, while my eyes were tearing up out of joy.  
"Lucy! I haven't seen you in ages! What are you doing here? How are you?" I bombarded her with questions. It was true though, shortly after the last rebel attack Aspen was allowed to leave for about 6 weeks and of course he didn't miss the chance of his family meeting his new girl and possible soon-to-be Fiancée.  
"I couldn't miss all the preparations and I thought that Mary and Paige were already busy enough, so I decided to help with your dresses one last time!"  
"You designed and sewed the dresses too?" I was quite surprised. Ever since she and Aspen announced that they were officially together and the Selection had ended, she decided to stop working as a maid for me. It wasn't an easy decision for her, because she didn't want to let me down, but I encouraged her and also told her that whenever she liked, I could take her back in my service.

"I did! It was important for me to make THE day the most perfect it could get and, let's be honest, Anne, Mary and I work the best when we are altogether!" She made a sweeping gesture towards her best friends and that was when something sparkling had caught my eyes.  
In her sweeping gesture I reached for her left hand looking at it astonished.  
"Lucy?" I asked knowingly and a huge smile spread across my face, even though my smile wasn't as bright as compared to my lovely maid's.  
"He asked me 3 days ago, the last day we were at his home…I'm going to get married America!"  
I tightly hugged her again, and my mother soon followed. Even though she didn't know Lucy that well, she knew Aspen and couldn't be happier for him.

"But first…" Lucy started "YOU have to get married. Princess America!" She teased me with the title I soon would be called by.  
My maids laid all dresses on the bed and we started with the first one. It was a bright white and ended in a huge train that later had to held by some kids so that it would get dirty from the floor.  
As Lucy and Mary helped me get in it, I admired how perfectly it fit on me and I couldn't help but wonder how amazing of a handicraft it was to make those dresses fit perfectly to the person who was going to wear it. I really felt like a princess in that dress, but as I saw myself in the mirror I just knew that this wasn't the one. And when I saw the other's expressions, I walked into the bathroom again, undressing myself as soon as I could.  
"It's ok, Miss! We were actually quite sure that you wouldn't decide upon this dress…We have our favourite one, too." Mary told me and gave me one of her beautiful smiles.  
'Don't lose your hope, America. One will be perfect.' I told myself because I was already beginning to feel nervous about what would happen if not one of those dresses would be the perfect fit.

It was the third dress I was going to wear, when I knew that would be IT. The dress was very modest, not the ostentatious wedding dress one would assume would be princess-worthy, no it was quite simple. I slipped it over with the help of my maids and I saw in their eyes what I thought when I saw it for the first time.  
"You know, my lady" Anne began "This actually wasn't our favourite…but I think it is now. This is just perfect!" And if I wasn't mistaken, I actually saw tears in her eyes, in Anne's usually composed eyes.  
I looked at myself in the mirror and even if that sounded self-centred…but the cream-coloured dress took my breath away.  
The dress was quite short for a wedding gown; it stopped shortly over my knee, well 'stopped' would be the wrong word. It was flowing around my knees. The flowing fabric reached up to my waist where it hugged my body perfectly and then came my favourite part: Lace was covering my chest and my arms up until the midst of my lower arms. It had a slight floral pattern on it and it made me feel so beautiful! My back was quite free from the fabric; it only had a little ribbon on it which was tied around my neck.  
As I was walking out of the bathroom I heard people sucking in their breaths. I wasn't surprised to see the tears in my mother's eyes, but Amberly's eyes were suspiciously wet too and that made my throat really dry and I knew if I wouldn't contain myself I would have broken out in tears right there and then.  
"That's it then?" I whispered to my little audience and when everything that everyone could do was nod, I knew I found it. My wedding gown, in which I would marry the man of my dreams.

A day later another milestone in my life would be set. I was allowed to arrange my new room, right next to my handsome Fiancée. The Princess Suite.  
I was just about to go up the steps towards the Royal Family's Quarters when I heard steps behind me.  
"Darling, wait!" Maxon called after me and I turned around. A huge smile was plastered on his face, and the knowledge that this smile was directed only towards me and because of me; made me the happiest girl on earth.  
"What is it?" When he reached the top of the steps he grabbed me and pulled me in a warm hug, with his hand grabbing my head gently. God…I loved this man.  
"I have a small surprise for you, before you start arranging your new room." He said smiling proudly at me.  
I knew he wouldn't tell me, so I stopped myself from asking what the surprise was and just followed him to his room door.  
"Ok…Are you ready?" Maxon asked me.  
"I am."

He opened the door, pushing me lightly in the room, followed me, closed the door and something bumped into me. Or better someone.  
"Marlee!" Yes, my husband-to-be knew exactly what I wanted and needed.  
"God, I missed you! I wish you were there yesterday when I picked my dress…You would have loved it, Celeste was there too! And my sister, my mom and Amberly. I wish they would know that you're here and ok.."  
"I know America. I've missed you too…I really would love to see your wedding dress, and I'm sure I will, because you're going to be all over the news in a couple of days." My best friend winked at me and that made me feel better about her absence at my wedding day.  
"But I actually didn't come to see you and talk…I have something I have to tell you." Marlee started and I could see something in her eyes that made me feel very excited about her next words. I looked at Maxon and saw that he wasn't aware of what Marlee was going to tell us now.  
"Ok…well I make it as short and quick as possible…" She grinned at us and the anxious feeling that had started to form in my stomach was gone quickly.  
"America, Maxon… I am pregnant!"  
I gulped. Did I understand her right? I mean when she told me the last time we saw each other that she and Carter were sharing a bed, I kind of expected that to happen, but not so quickly!

"Seriously?" I screamed. Even though I was; in a way; shocked to hear the news, I was thrilled.  
"Yes!" Her smile grew even wider when I hugged her tightly again. After I let go of her, Maxon even hugged her.  
"Congratulations to you two! Maybe your child will have a friend to play with in some time" He grinned.  
"You are pregnant too America?" Marlee asked me shocked and I blushed as usual.  
"Oh…God no, Marlee" I laughed nervously "I think what Maxon wanted to say was, that when we have children, which we obviously will, your child will have a play-companion." I explained to her and you could see the big question mark wash off her face.  
"Haha, ok… I thought… well never mind" She laughed warmly and hugged me again.  
We talked for a bit and she had to leave us again, even though I hated that I knew it was necessary.  
"Hey, keep me updated about you two; well three" I smiled at her gave her a last hug and she walked towards the closet, but turned around again and said: "You keep me updated too, America" She winked and, what a surprise, I blushed again and just nodded. She laughed slightly and disappeared behind the hidden opening in the closet.  
I turned around to Maxon and smiled brightly at him "Thank you! I really appreciate what you did, my prince" I winked at him and gave him a small peck on his cheeks.  
"Will you help me with my room arrangements?" I asked him.  
"I think I can take an hour or two off from work, so yes I will help you a bit, darling" I looked at him, and again I was amazed on how I deserved such an amazing man.

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**So how did you like it? **  
**I have a question for you guys: Do you want to know how America decorated her room? Or should I jump directly into the wedding? **  
**I don't know yet, so please tell me what you want and think :) **  
**Oh and to the person who commented on how I use too many exclamation marks...I understand what you mean :D But I'm still using them, because everytime I write something, especially dialogs, I imagine myself talking..and I just want to emphasize the things I think are important and need emphasis. Sorry if that annoys you! :) I'll try to use them a little bit less! **


	10. Chapter 9

**Hey Guys! Sorry for the LATE update! But as I wrote before...I had a lot on my plate...**  
**But for now on: just enjoy the (extremeley EXTRA long) chapter! I know that there is really little action at the moment..but the blow-up will come...believe me ;) just be patient!**

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It was actually more than two months ago when the rebels attacked the last time, which seemed like a very short amount of time to recover for us, but when I was thinking about it in a silent moment (which was rare in the days before my wedding!) it seemed strange that there hadn't been a rebel attack for so long. And if I thought about it even further… I was scared. I was scared that that would build up to something big…that they had their next attack planned already…and that there were going to be even more deaths than the last time. What if-

"America!" I looked up into Anne's face, startled to see that she was talking to me; seemingly not for the first time.  
"What is it Anne?" I was sitting on a high chair in my old bedroom, getting my make-up done, and in only a few hours…I would marry the man of my dreams.  
"My lady; please close your eyes! I need them closed to get the eyeshadow on." I nodded and closed my eyes.  
"What were you thinking about? I was calling your name for the third time, when you finally reacted."  
"Ehm…" I debated with myself if it would be a good idea to talk to Anne about my fear, and decided it would only trouble her mind unnecessarily. "I was just thinking about later…I'm nervous that I will trip or anything like that…or even forget the words I need to say!" I laughed at her, just to calm her down, and maybe to calm myself down a little more.

"Oh, miss! You will be perfect. There is nothing you need to be afraid of and I assure you, that you won't make any mistake. The prince will love you, no matter what."  
"It isn't the prince I am worried about…" I mumbled quietly, so that nobody could hear me, or at least nobody should've heard it.  
"Excuse me my lady?" Anne certainly heard something…  
"Nothing." I smiled "I just said that you are right!" But that was a lie… If anything was going wrong or if I did anything to despite the king…well I certainly would have to pay for that.

I was being nervous…well, nervous was and understatement. I was deeply afraid I would ruin our wedding and my life. The King wasn't exactly my biggest supporter and searched for every tiny little detail he could hold against me. But I wouldn't give him this satisfaction. I would do anything, to be with Maxon and for the future of my unborn children.

Someone knocked at the door.  
"As long as it isn't Maxon, please come in." I called out and no other than the Queen herself entered the room. As she walked nearer to me I felt the tension leave my body; at least for a certain amount.  
"Queen Amberly!" I cried out, having a big smile on my face.  
"You know you are allowed to call me mom, now that you will be my daughter, sweetheart." She told me, came up to me and embraced my body into a heart-warming big hug.

"So…tell me, America. Are you nervous?" I gulped. I was nervous; but should I tell her the actual reason? I decided to talk to her about my nervousness, but to leave out the part where I would tell her about the fear I felt about her husband.  
"I am…I'm really scared that something will go wrong…"

"Oh Honey." My heart melted, hearing her warm voice, calling me 'Honey' "You know that I went through the exact same thing that you are going through right now…and see where I am now! I was so nervous! I was nervous until I saw Clarkson standing there, waiting for ME. Just for me. He chose me out of the many girls he could've chosen…and that made me believe that I was doing the right thing!" I nodded, showing her I understood, even though I would never understand how such a cruel king could've chosen such a beautiful, regal and kind girl.

"And you know what calmed me down the most?" Amberly asked, and I shook my head, waiting for the answer she was going to give me in a moment.  
"That he chose me! Even though he knew from the beginning, that we were going to have problems with having a child! Even though my health was quite bad and my background wasn't anything to be proud of. He could've chosen any of the other girls, believe me there were enough worthy of the future Queen's spot, but still…

Clarkson chose me! Even despite his mother's obvious distaste for me. So America. You don't have to be nervous." I never knew that the King had known about Amberly's condition before he even decided she was the One…It was nice to hear something about Amberly's past.

"Maxon did similar tings for you. He chose you, because he loves you! He didn't care what his father was going to say; or the people outside the palace. He chose you, because it was the right thing to do for him and you. And..." she stood up, ready to leave and to make herself look even more beautiful than she already was for the wedding. "Clarkson can seem cold; he can seem heartless…but deep down he is a good man…Don't be afraid of him; he just wants the best for his people!"

Oh well…I didn't know about that. But I didn't want to ruin the faith my mother-in-law had in her husband, so I just smiled at her and nodded.  
And with that and a last smile back at me she left the room, leaving me alone for the short amount of time, until my maids were filling up the rooms with laughter again.

* * *

I was standing behind the curtain, hearing the noise of the small crowd of people in the studio. Our wedding was, of course, recorded so that the public would be able to see how their future King and Queen were entering the beautiful bond of marriage. I wasn't too happy about the recording, but with a little help of Amberly I was able to get my wish of having just a few people at my wedding, a few people that were the most important in mine, and Maxon's life.  
"Deep breaths, America!" My mom told me, noticing my nervousness. "Everything will be alright!"

After a small debate between Maxon and his father, the King agreed that since my father wasn't able to 'hand me over' and approve the choice I made; my mother would do the honour of giving me away. I was glad I had her by my side, when I did the steps into my own, new life.

"May I have a word with you, America?" A voice behind me asked sweetly. That particular voice made my hair stand on end. To many it may have sounded nice how he approached me, but I knew it was just an act to not alarm my mother.  
"Of course." I whispered the answer because I was afraid of what was going to come next. He walked me in a silent corner of the studio, so nobody could follow our conversation.

"Listen closely, America." The way he pronounced my name didn't leave any doubt on his obvious distaste for his son's choice in women. He spit it out like it was dirt in his mouth and whispered it quietly as if it wasn't worth saying it out loud.

"There is no other option for me than to accept the choice my son made even if it was dumb and incomprehensible. He is young and acts impulsively and I can tell you…in just a few years of your marriage he will be sick of your selfish behaviour and will search for another bed to lie in. You are just a little…well how can I say it…amusement for him and will grow tired of you. That's all good and will happen. But for now YOU still have to be on your best behaviour and I'll tell you this once!" He held up his index finger centimetres away from my face while saying the cruel words. "If you screw anything up…I will make sure you leave on your own terms."  
Without another word he went away. Well, who will win the award for best and loving father-in-law?

Certainly not me.  
I didn't need him to elaborate on what he was going to do because maybe the only thing that he could use against me…was my family and unfortunately… he knew that.

'Breathe, America; breathe!' I told myself knowing that just in a few seconds I had to walk down the aisle in front of (too) many people (for my taste). My hands were shaking and my eyes were burning with tears. This time not (only) out of fear…but more out of anger that the King was capable of scaring the hell out of me and threatening his daughter-in-law like that. My mom was walking towards me, a questioning expression in her eyes.  
"Are you ok? What did the King want?" She asked me, concern showing in her eyes.

"Oh…ehm…he just wanted to welcome me in the family…he is warming up to me after all now!"  
Wow…I'd never thought I would be that good at lying, because my mother seemed to believe me.

The cue: the music I chose. It started to play and I knew it was time for my mother and me to do the last walk into my new life together. She held my hand the whole way down the aisle and then I saw him. It was exactly like Amberly told me…I forgot everything else around me. My worries about the words of the King, the Kingdom itself and everything else were fading away as soon as I saw Maxon standing at the end of the aisle, looking extremely handsome in his dark black, perfectly tailored suit and his grey vest underneath.

His hair was decent and a little slicked back and I couldn't wait to get through it with my hands, rifle through it and have it in this messy way I loved it. I was so caught up in my thoughts about the most handsome man on earth who was going to be my husband in just a matter of time that I nearly missed that we were standing right in front of him by now.

My mother's eyes teared up as she gently put my hands into my soon-to-be husband's and she made a small step to the side right next to my bridesmaids.  
I just looked up into Maxon's deep brown eyes and did not really care for my surroundings. The only thing I cared about in that moment was: that was going to be our start. That was the beginning of our family and our immortal bond. That was it!  
"You look stunning, my love" He whispered towards me so that only I could hear his words and I think, at that moment, I was radiating like the sun.

* * *

"Thank you. Thank you. Oh, that's very nice of you to say!" The last guests were (finally) leaving our small celebration after the wedding. I let out a loud sigh, relieved that we got through all the festivities for that day. Arms were slung around me and I felt the warmth of another body behind my back. I turned around only to look into the most beautiful eyes and those eyes happened to belong to my husband.

"You are happy that everything is over for the day?" He asked me rhetorically as if he didn't know how much I disliked those events when I had other things on my mind.  
"You know…we could go now…We don't have any obligations for now…" He winked at me and as everyone probably knew by now, my face turned into a bright, red colour again, because I knew exactly what he was talking about. We were legally husband and wife now. I had my room right next to his. We would share a bed most of the nights…

"We should go upstairs then." I surprised him and even more myself with that answer. I was usually the shy one with that topic, but today my mouth was working faster than my brain. Well…I guess it was nearly every time like that, but…still.  
As we went up the last set of stairs, I was suddenly swooped off my feet and felt myself hover over the ground, feeling Maxon's arm and chest muscles against myself.

"Eh…What are you doing?" I asked him, but laughing because of all the endorphin that was running through my body.  
"You know it was a tradition some time ago, to lift one's wife over the threshold of their new, joint home. It was meant to seal the first step into marriage and the collective life. I thought we could bring back the old tradition." He smiled at me, knowing I would like bringing back forgotten things of the past. He pushed open the doors and surprisingly we weren't located in his chambers as I thought we would be. No. We were standing in my new, custom-made room.

The walls were cream-coloured and the floor was a dark wooden colour. Thin and in a little darker shade of cream, curtains were hanging on the side of the windows and we could see the nightblue sky and thousands of stars outside spreading over the garden of the palace.

I didn't want many different colours in my room, so my furniture, along with my bed and some bookshelves, was out of some dark wood and all the fabrics were in darker and lighter shades of cream. In front of my fireplace a fluffy, light carpet was laid down and soft couches for lazy Sunday evenings were put on the floor so that the warmth of the burning fire was to be felt while sitting down.  
However the sofas weren't the object of our desire…

Maxon still held me lifted up in his arms when he started walking in my room, dropping me on the soft surface of my, or should I say our?, bed. Seemingly Maxon was way more organised than me, because he informed a maid or a butler beforehand who must've lit some candles while we were at that party. The Room was in the perfect light. Not too bright, but not too dark either. Our eyes didn't hurt when we looked around, but we were also able to see each other.  
Maxon sat down next to me on my bed and took my hand in his own.

He smiled brightly at me and I could see pure happiness in his eyes. I was really amazed that it was me who caused his happiness!  
"I can finally call you my wife! God, I love the sound of it…"He was lost in his own thoughts and I really wanted to know what was going on in his mind.  
"What are you thinking about, husband?" I asked him with a wink at his new name.

"You know…In my head we are a little further right now…" He grinned at me mischievously "We are sitting in the dining hall and a bunch of kids are running around and laughing about everything. They are not just our kids, but their cousins and friends. I love that picture….And I like the thought that it won't be silent like it was in my childhood. Our kids are going to grow up as kids! With other kids around…" I lifted my hand up to his warm cheek, caressing it and feeling him lean into my movement.

"I know what you mean…But that's a looooong way to get to 'a bunch of kids'" I quoted him. I didn't mean it in a 'getting him back to reality' kind of way; when I was dragging out the long, I winked at him forcing him to get other thoughts in his head.

I actually didn't know where my confidence was coming from, but deep down I knew it. I knew that I was ready to dare the next step in our relationship and additionally; it was our wedding night after all! Faster than I knew I felt Maxon's warm, raspy lips against my own. How could it even be possible that every time we kissed he STILL made me feel those butterflies in my stomach?

It didn't help that his tongue was prodding slightly against my lower lip, begging for entrance. The butterflies and the warm feeling were no longer only in my stomach, they were moving around my body, electrifying it with every touch of Maxon's skin. It seemed like tiny electric strokes were leaving Maxon's fingers, while he gently stroked my neck. He slowly moved his hands further down my body, not leaving any part out. My eyelids were closed and he kissed both of them softly as if they could break any minute. His hands were caressing the sides of my stomach and chills were running all over my body. We moved from the sitting position on the bedside, slowly to him hovering over me.

I decided it was time for me to make a move and I helped him out of his jacket, which he threw on the ground without wasting a minute. Our kisses were getting heated, and Maxon slowly stroked my thighs. He started with the outside slowly wandering up, by now moving under my dress. Those touches filled me with excitement, and lust. Every time he touched my skin, a small signal was going up to my heart, letting it beat faster every minute.

I started to slowly unbutton his dress shirt, and even though I saw him without a shirt on, before…I was out of breath for a moment. He definitely worked on his muscles, but it wasn't to the point where it would look ridiculous. He was just perfect for me. I softly touched his chest and started caressing it. His reaction was immediate. Goosebumps were forming on his chest and his breath was getting faster. By now he was lying between my legs, while I was on my back and just a moment later, his hands were at my back, trying to open all the buttons on my dress. After some time, he undid all the buttons and I made a mental note for myself, to tell my maids that that many buttons were very impractical.

I was excited and yet afraid what Maxon would think about me, think about my body, but my insecurities were washed away when he stripped down my dress and looked at me in awe. Slowly running his fingers over my bare chest, he told me how beautiful I was.  
"I love you Maxon." I confessed to him, while I knew we were going to take a new road into our future.  
"And I" he kissed my forehead "love" pecked my nose "you." And started on my lips where we had ended before our words. And in that moment I knew I made the right choice, the right choice to overcome all the obstacles and to choose love. To choose the love for the man who would be there for me forever.

* * *

**I am not good at writing sex scenes...so I'll just let the rest for your imagination ;)**  
**I hope you liked it! PLEASE _Review_!**

**So a little updat on me...even though I don't even know if you want to hear about me or just read the story :D anyways...I'm officially done with school! FOREVER!  
My surgery went well...just have to walk in crutches for another 3 weeks...but oh well :)**

**So please tell me if you enjoyed the chapter?  
And tell me if you get unpetient because there is no drama at the moment? I don't want to lose readers because of that...Just tell me what you want, and I'll think about it ;)**

**To Monkeys4ever001:** :) Thank you for actually sending me a suggestion :) Even though I didn't use it, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are content with it!

**Love, Hanna **


	11. Chapter 10

**Dear people. I won't say much before...just that I'm not the happiest with this chapter(with the style,story and length of it)...I hope you will enjoy the update anyways!**

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I woke up to a warm body pressed into my back. God…I could get used to waking up like that every morning. Snuggling deeper into the other body, I heard a slight grown, showing me that my husband (!) was in the process of waking up.  
"Good morning, Beautiful." He greeted me and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of my head.  
"Hello." I turned around and smiled at him. It was still hard to understand for me that we were actually married now, even more unbelievable for me was the possibility of having a family in the future. Maxon and I could have very well produced an heir during our first night together.  
"How are you doing today?" He asked me, cocking an eyebrow at me.  
"I'm fine, how are you Max?"

But he never got to answer, since the end of my sentence was interrupted by the familiar sound of the alarm bells ringing through our room. My eyes grew big as I looked at Maxon, but when I thought he would be still lying next to me; Maxon was running through the room, picking up nightgowns for us and a pair of shoes for both of us. I was quite happy now that we decided to get dressed into our sleeping clothes last night, because it would be very cold down there in one of the safe rooms.

By the time Maxon grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the door the bell had only rung two times and we were pretty sure to make it safely into the royal safe room. As we reached the hidden doors screams and shouts were to be heard from behind us and we knew by then that we were lucky to having been awake as the bells were ringing earlier.

We made our way down the stairs and found Amberly and the King already seated. Amberly gave us a quick smile whereas King Clarkson nodded his head and continued to work on some papers he had brought down here. For them it seemed like a routine. The bells ring, they pack their most important things as well as some work and take it with them, they go to a safe room as quickly as possible and then continue to work. When the guards searched the place and labelled it as safe, they go up again and go on with their daily life, maybe with some extra work added.

When the bells ring again…well, the process is repeated again and again. I should be used to the process by now too…but the only thing I could think about in that moment was my family and friends that were (hopefully) stuck in a not so safe, safe room and the thought of something happening to them. Maxon noticed my nervousness and pulled me away from his father, onto a chair in the corner of the room.  
"Are you ok?" He asked me.  
At first I was tempted to just nod and confirm to him that everything was it would be ok, but that was Maxon. My husband! And I came to the conclusion that it would be the best to just be honest with him, since in the past keeping things from him hadn't turned out to be the greatest idea.

"Do you think everybody else is doing alright?" I asked him, showing him my concern without answering his question directly.  
"I think…that they are going to be safe. Everybody knows where the safe rooms are and I doubt that one of them couldn't make it in time. And if you're worrying about your family, because they never went through it…You know that there are enough guards to guide them and help them. Everybody will be ok, my dear!" I smiled at him. He knew how to calm me down, at least to the certain level that I was smiling at him again and saying:  
"I'm still not your dear, keep that in mind." I winked at him and he kissed my forehead slightly, grinning and nodding.  
Maxon went to his father after our little conversation and I kept to myself.

I knew something had to happen sooner or later. It was so long ago that the last attack happened that it had become quite odd. Even though the last time was a huge win for their side, because they had actually been able to kill someone as close to the royal household as possible, the southern rebels didn't appear to me as the 'let-them-take-a-breath type.  
So as long as there weren't major setbacks in their own rows the long wait could've only meant one thing; they had been planning something huge. And to say the least, I was more than afraid to get out of this room and to find out what they had planned.

I took quite a nap, because there was nothing else for me to do. I dreamt of my beautiful wedding, the white gown I wore drenched with blood; people clapping and calling out our names when we said our final yes, changing into the screams of dying people. Kris walking down the aisle instead of me, and then being jerked away by a bullet shot straight through her head.

I woke up from somebody shaking me and it took me a while to realise that it was just Maxon and not one of those missiles the rebels liked to shoot at the palace.  
It was when Maxon already embraced me that I realised I was shaking and I was thankful for the mental and physical support he gave me.  
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked me, knowing that I had bad dreams.  
I shook my head against his chest and he just held me tighter as if he was holding the pieces of me together.

It must have been day and night we had spent in the safe rooms when finally the door was opened and the palace seemed to be declared as safe.  
Maxon grabbed my hand, pulling me to the door and up the stairs. I took a deep breath and Maxon waited patiently for me to be ready to step out the doors. With a nod of my head I indicated my answer and with Maxon tight by my side, we stepped out of the doors to face the destruction the rebels had left behind them. I was slightly taken aback at what I saw. Surprisingly there wasn't much harm done to the furniture down the floors or to the picture frames along the wall, but the blood stains on the floor told us what must've happened during the attack. I had to swallow hardly, since the scent of blood was still to be smelled throughout the palace.

Maxon never let go of my hand during the walk towards our chambers. He knew that I needed his support, but I was pretty sure I was comfort for him, too.  
We arrived in front of the doors to our rooms and what I saw was something I had never hoped to see. With dark red colour words were written on the wall. I wasn't sure of what the colour was made of and I actually didn't want to know.

I turned to Maxon after I read the words. Anxiety. Anxiety was the only thing I was able to feel in that moment. It was spreading through my body like the venom of a snake. Slowly starting to at the ends of my hands and feet, rising up and building a lump in my stomach. The venom reached towards my lungs, making it hard to breathe, as it worked its way further through my body, to finally settle in my brain. It took hold of my brain and made me forget anything else rather than the anxiety.

_Dear Princess._  
_As you may notice in a matter of time: we took something_  
_from you; something very special to you._  
_Or should we better say: someone?_  
_Don't worry Princess. You'll get further information soon enough._

_P.S We hope you enjoyed your lovely wedding night!_

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**Chapter 10? Ends with a bang :D**

**No seriously as I said above...I'm not too content with it. I think it is written poorly.**  
**But I wanted to update before I went on vacation, so: here you have it (or better had it)!**

**Oh and: **  
**_10,000 views_! People of Fanfiction: you are amazing!**  
**I appreciate that until now , most of the people who read this story (and commented) seemed to like it and if you didn't? Tell me otherwise. But please keep in mind that I'm an amateur and I'm not the most talented! But I will take **_constructive_** criticism as help and not as hate.**

**Until next time! **  
**Thoughts and PResumptions on this chapter are appreciated! :) **


	12. Chapter 11

**Hey Guys. I have to say sorry. I am feeling like a huge disappointment to my readers! So to YOU guys!  
I rarely update. I just can't do it more frequently, but when I update, the chapters seem to disappoint. I'm really sorry for that! But you have to know that I'm suffering from a very serious kind of writer's block! I just can't seem to get real ideas on how to continue…and when I do I have trouble putting it in words…That's a reason why I started a new story, just to get some variety. So again! I am sorry for the long wait, the very short and shitty (sorry :D) chapter.  
Another A/N at the end + took the time for some shout-outs!**

It could be everyone! I looked at Maxon and he just grabbed my hand and pulled me with him, as he saw the fear in my eyes.

We ran down the stairs without wasting a second thinking about the rules we usually had to follow. It was only one thought that occupied my mind: 'Who is it?'

We finally got to the last set of stairs as we already heard voices. Some calm, some angry, some in tears. We ran around the corner and saw a bunch of people in a crowd together. Most of them sighed in relief as they saw us, but some expressions barely changed. I was so anxious to hear the news I would get to know in any second.

Maxon's hand grabbed mine even tighter as his father walked up to us.  
"I'm glad you are ok." He greeted us, with no spark of emotion "I have some news which most likely is in your interest to hear, America. I am sorry to say that your brother has been abducted by the rebels and is unlikely to return from the kidnap. We will do everything in our power to help him, but I won't do anything that will destroy the peace of my kingdom."

The coldness in his eyes was shooting daggers at my heart. Even if he didn't have any kind of affection towards me or my family, how could he act so cold? But there was a question which bothered me more at the moment. I had two brothers.

"Which one?" I asked with my voice breaking, not caring about the weakness the King would see in my eyes.  
"Gared." Not the King, but my mother answered in a cry through the hall.  
A world broke for me. Little Gared; the baby of the family who had never seemed to be able to adjust.  
My ball loving, rough little brother in the hands of rebels. Murderers.

And at that point I wasn't able to control my thoughts and I hated myself for that.  
At that point the only thing I could put into organized thoughts was: "Why him and not Kota?"

A suppressed cry tried to escape my lips and my knees were weakening by any second. I embraced my mother and May in my arms. They couldn't lose someone else! I couldn't lose someone else, especially not out of my family.

"We are gonna find him. Am I right?" I asked in Maxon's direction.  
His jaw locked tightly and I knew he was as concerned about my brother as I was. They had grown close since my family moved in the palace and they always played ball together.  
"I will do everything to get him back, America. I promise." And his response didn't leave any room for argument; even his father was at loss of words by the sternness his son's voice portrayed.

Everything went by in a daze. Amberly came to me and my family, embracing us in a warm hug leading us to a place to sit. She spoke to us, but I wasn't able to understand much. I just couldn't understand! He was here in the palace, safe with my family.  
How could this have happened?

"We are not sure Ames." My mother answered, I seemed to have asked that question out loud.  
"He was with us and then in a matter of seconds and in the chaos that was going on…He was gone! I don't know if they already took him by then or if he was just lost and couldn't find a saferoom to hide. The only thing I know that I should've watched him better. I should've kept him by my side…I should've just held his hand!" My mom's face was covered in tears again.

I had never seen her cry in front of us until my father had died. That was probably the first time I saw her crying. But now the tears didn't seem to stop. I just put my arms around her and told her that it wasn't her fault that everything probably was really confusing at the time and that Gared maybe was confused and let them get out of his sight.

I actually did think that she could've watched him better, but for the first time in my life I thought before I spoke. I was always impulsive, but I just felt that it would make everything worse if I would accuse my mother of letting my brother be kidnapped.

"We will find a way!" I tried to assure not only her, but myself with my words.

"We will." Amberly agreed with me and gently pulled my mother in a hug.

It was in the afternoon when I was laying on my bed. I had put my mother and my sister to bed, even singing them a song to make them feel better, and now I was just waiting. Waiting and thinking. Would the rebels hurt my brother?  
Oh why did I even bother myself with that question? They were already running around in the palace, shooting at innocent people just to get what they wanted. They surely wouldn't desist from hurting a hostage that meant the world to the future Queen.

I forced my eyes to shut themselves so the tears wouldn't be able to find their way out of them. It was hard for me to keep sane these days.  
I heard the door creek and my eyes shot open. I turned my head and saw my husband standing there.  
"Any news?" I asked him full of hope and when he didn't answer I counted that as a yes.

"Well…we do have video message from the rebels, where they explain the terms on which they will bring us Gared back."  
"And?" I asked again while getting up from my bed and walking closer to Maxon.  
He hesitated.  
"Please tell me!" I knew he was about to tell me when he opened his mouth, but then he closed it again and my hope shrunk into a tiny bundle of nothing.  
"I can't tell you. I just…I need to think first. I am so sorry America…but I won't tell you until I figured out a plan on how to get him back. I promise I will find a way!"

"You have to tell me!" I shouted at him, angry tears blinding my vision. "I am your wife, your Queen." I screamed, using my fists to hit his chest. "He is my brother, Maxon!" I was so angry. Who did he think he is? Keeping information from me that could rescue my brother! I wasn't angry. I was furious with him.  
"You can't do this to me! Please. Just…please."  
My anger slowly turned into despair and sadness as Maxon grabbed my fists, which looked tiny compared to his hands, and tried to calm me down. He pulled me towards him, holding me while I cried shamelessly into his shirt, his warm chest.  
All the anger I felt towards him was gone. I mean…why should I even be angry with HIM? I knew he would do anything to get my brother back and not even just for me. He loved my brother nearly as much as I did and would do nearly anything for him. I should trust him. He was my husband after all.

"But…he is my brother…" I softly muffled into his shirt, the last bit of strength leaving me with those words.

**Me again! So I wanted to take the time, this time, to just say thanks to my reviewers, especially to the ones that have reviewed multiple times!**

**AGoodBookNeverEnds: **First of all: I love your name! Secondly: Are you still with me? You reviewed quite a while ago, twice and I really loved your reviews. I hope I didn't lose you as a reader…But thank you for sticking to it for at least 4 chapters :D Loved that you were so into the story.

**MonkeysForever: **Thank you again for your suggestion! I love when readers think with me J Hope you still enjoy the story. Thanks

**Roses323: **You also commented just on the last chapters, but as I said before: I love when readers are so into the story! I hope I can satisfy you with the version of the story.

Last but not least **Karly Emanuely: **Just because I can relate to non-native speakers so much :D I love that people from other countries are reading this story. And yes I am German J And I actually do like my country as well :D Obrigada for your review (Obrigada is nearly the only thing I can say in Portuguese…and I'm not even sure if you say that over there in Brazil…)

**So that's it with the shout-outs for the moment! Just one last thing before I let you go… The most reviews I got for one chapter was 11(which I'm really proud of!), but I would really LOVE if we (or better you) could top that number! Love to read all the suggestions(! On how to continue even!) and assumptions/speculations...  
So? Will you try it? I would love to hear from you! You can also contact me via Private messaging.**

-Love, Hanna


	13. Chapter 12

**Hello guys. Long time no see! Not that long but at least something.**

**A/N at the bottom. Read on!**

* * *

_Maxon's POV_

It was hard for me to not tell America the whole truth and I had a hard time keeping up a front, but deep down I knew it would be better for her, at least for now. She didn't have to know that even I didn't have much hope for little Gared, as I saw a glimpse of what the rebels did to him in the video they sent. It only was 1 day after they had taken him, but I had a hard time believing that there was going to be a happy ending…and why should there be? Nothing could be just perfect for America and I, we always had to struggle to continue to be happy, everybody had come between us, everything had come between us, why should it be any different now that we were married? It is not that I doubted our relationship, and only the thought of leaving her or living without her ever again always left me shaken and cold, but how long could she hold on? How long was she going to be able to live through all the bad things happening in her life? I was her husband now, I swore to protect her and I was more than determined to do so, but how could I, if fate was always there to come between that?

Right then a knock sounded through the door to my office and without waiting for permission, my mother walked in and closed the door behind her.

"How are Maxon?" She asked, concern clouding her usually bright eyes.  
"How do you think I am, Mother? I am married for one day, vowed to my wife that I would always protect her heart with the ring I put on her finger, and here I am one day later, already having broken that very promise."  
She looked sadly at me and came to my side, one hand resting comfortingly on my shoulder.  
"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, sweetheart. You will never be able to protect her from every single bad thing that is going to happen in her life, as much as you want to! You are doing everything in your power to get her brother back, the only other thing you can do for her and her family, also now your family, is to comfort them and promise them you will do everything you can."

"Have you seen it?" I asked her. She knew what I was talking about, so I guessed she had seen the video message the rebels had sent.  
"He is so little. How should someone so little be able to withstand all the torture he is going through? How is he going to understand that no one wanted this, that his family loves him even though they don't come for him, won't help him?"  
I heard my mother take a deep breath before starting to talk again.  
"Maxon, I think you forgot one thing!" I looked at her, confused of what she was talking about.

"He has your wife as his sister." I looked up into her eyes waiting for her to continue her thoughts.  
"Have you ever seen a girl as stubborn and strong-willed as your America? Even if Gared only has little of what his sister has, he will have enough to withstand the physical torture he is being put through. He is also smarter than you give him credit for, and I am pretty sure you do know that. He is always questioning everything that happens in this world, from asking why bugs have 6 legs to why Illéa still has the caste system. He definitely got his brain from his late father and strong will and stubbornness from his mother. He is going to pull through this until you get him out of there!"

She was right. I forget which family he belonged to. As long as I would find a way to get to him and the rebels as soon as possible he was going to be ok!

"And concerning America, my love, you know she loves and trusts you deeply and that will never change. She knows that you are trying your best and that you are probably as devastated as she is about Gared's kidnap. She will believe in you and love you no matter what! And I will, too! You are a smart man, Maxon, my son no less and I know you can do everything if you set your mind to it. Whether it would be another sweet after a bath when you were young", she actually got me to smile with that memory, "or to marry the girl of your dreams against your father's wishes."

How could it be that she was always there to get me to believe in myself again and to make sense of all the mess that was going on around me?  
I got from my seat and gave her cheek a quick peck.  
"Thank you, mom!" I hadn't called her that in a long time. "I have some working and thinking to do now! Thank you for coming and helping me."  
She smiled at me a last time before opening the door.  
"I am proud of you my son."  
"I love you." I answered when she walked out of the room and left me to my own thought again.

As strained as the relationship to my father was, as heart-warming and supporting was the one I shared with my mother. I guess I could be glad that at least one of my parents seemed to believe in me and love me unconditionally.

Someone knocked at my door again. Sighing I belted "Come in",

"Your majesty, Mister Illéa is here and he says he has important matters he would like to discuss with you."  
I gulped and waved the guard to let him in. It sure had to be important for August to be so careless coming to the palace in the middle of the day. Luckily I only had my most trustworthy guards standing in front of my office and chambers. August, disguised with a simple scarf covering his mouth and nose, came stomping into my office, closing the door behind him and seating himself in one of my office chairs.

"You do know that it is very risky for you to barge into my office at daylight nowadays, do you?" I asked him, not being able to withstand the urge to scold him.  
"Of course I do, 'your majesty'." Opposing to the guard seconds before him, August used the term mockingly.  
"But I have very important news regarding the southern rebels that might be interesting for you!"  
My ears perked at the spark of hope he offered me. "Go on." I urged him to continue.

_Amercia's POV_

I felt awful. I couldn't do anything for my missing brother and nothing more to comfort my family than empty, hollow words. "He will be here soon. Trust me. Everything is going to be ok."  
Ts…as if that were possible.  
I knew what the rebels demanded that would get Gared free, but I also knew that the King would never agree to that. Hell, even I wouldn't agree to it, if I didn't know it would free my brother.

Maxon had told me the night before, even though he didn't want to show me the video. I guessed he wanted to protect me from seeing Gared hurt, since he knew that would possibly break me, seeing my little brother, helpless and scared, without being able to do anything to help him.  
That didn't protect me from the nightmares I suffered from. Maxon wasn't beside me, and wasn't there to calm me down, because he was trying every possible thing (without the help of the most powerful man, also called his father, might I add.) to save my brother from being murdered by ruthless men.  
I knew he had much to do, but I wish he would've been there for me, to burn out the picture of Gared bloody and beaten to death.

The rebels demand was ridiculous an impossible to fulfil, but also somehow understandable. They not only wanted the caste system to be abolished, but also the whole monarchy. How could they possibly think that their rule, which would start with killing a whole family of royals and other bystanders and supporters, would work any better than the current system? How could they think that people living in constant fear of their and their loved one's deaths would make a more content and peaceful population? I had no idea. Of course I understood, probably better than anyone that King Clarkson was less than a good monarch, but the prospect of Maxon being King in the future brought so much hope, that I could not say, that having a monarch as head of state would necessarily be a bad thing. Of course I thought that the people should be able to interact more with politics and that they should have possibilities to be represented by their own people in matters concerning the whole state. But having a head of state like Maxon, who wanted to abolish inequality and injustice, would be a positive prospect to the state and would help the country to blossom to its full potential.

Nevertheless I had no idea how I would get Gared back. It was hopeless for me to figure out a way of rescuing him, so I could only imagine how hard it would have to be for Maxon, with the weight of the state on his shoulders and with his father constantly watching his every move and waiting for him to do something wrong or fail.

The only thing I could hope for right then was that Maxon WOULD be finding a solution and prevent that my family and I would lose yet another member.  
"I have faith in you, I love you Maxon!" I breathed while clinging to my wedding band, hoping he would feel my given support, hoping that he would soon fill the missing piece of my heart again, with bringing back my little brother.

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**Ok guys. So this is not as much as I wanted to write, but I'll try to continue writing immediately when I get back from work tomorrow. I now have a rough outline on where I want to go with this story and hope that it helps me to end this story by fall this year. Hopefully even sooner.**

**I don't want to say too much about my absence from here, but only that I am extremely and awfully sorry for having abandoned this story for so long. I hope you can forgive me.  
One thing though, as I reread my own story I felt that I myself didn't really like my story until chapter 8 started…so I will probably edit quite a bit in the near future so that more people will read this story further than just the 1st chapter.  
Thank you for everyone that sticked to my story. I love you for that. **

**Love Hanna **

**(P.S. tried something different with using MAxon's POV...hope you liked it! Let me know!)**


	14. Chapter 13

**Hey guys! Here is a new chapter for you, who are still reading!  
ENJOY!  
(I actually noticed that I wrote the name 'Gerad' wrong a lot of times! Sorry for that!)**

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**Maxon's POV**

"So help me understand this, August. The southern rebels only have one leader who is responsible for everything?" I asked incredulously.  
"Yes. As I was told by a source of mine, the southern rebels only have one leader who pulls all the strings. I am pretty sure that he is the one that spoke on the video. He is said to be incredibly authoritarian."  
"Ts…" I laughed, "How ironic that he wants to abolish the monarchy, when he is pretty much doing the exact same thing. Ruling alone over a bunch of people."  
"I agree Maxon, it may make some sense to want to abolish the monarchy itself or at least partly, but not with him as a head of state or with his way of achieving goals…Anyways…I was told that most of his followers are actually just too afraid of him and that is the reason why they continue to support him. More than one source has said they are for a more moderate approach to abolishing the caste system like we, the northern rebels, would like it to be. The only thing they want is to get more incorporated in decisions concerning the state. But they'll be patient since they know; they will never be able to achieve these goals with your father as their sovereign. They are waiting for you, Maxon, and America to take over the monarchy, because they have faith in you, they see that you could be the change they need to get a better life!"

I gulped. It was weird, and at the same time comforting and frightening, to know so many people put their faith in me. The only problem was my father though…He still hated America and even though she never told me, I knew that he had threatened her more than once. I unfortunately knew him better than anyone, even better than my mother did.  
"It's nice to hear that people think so highly of me…but I still need a plan, and as fast as I can, to get Gerad back! What do you propose; any ideas?"  
"Yes, Georgia and me actually discussed an idea earlier…It may be risky and your father should better not know of it, but it should work."  
With one simple hand movement I told him to continue.

"You would need your own inside-man, a man you can trust and that is willing to give his life to this cause. He will try his best to get to the leader; he'll have help from sympathising rebels and spies of our own, and either get him arrested or get him killed. It may take more than just a couple of days because he has to earn the trust of the leader somehow…but with the help we have it should work."

I nodded, appreciating the help I got from my relatively newfound allies. I went through the plan in my head, searching for errors in it and realising there were many things that could go wrong, the biggest of them being Gerad not being able to pull through the time it took. But it was our best shot. The best shot for getting America's little brother back, the best plan to get MY brother back.

"Excellent plan, August. I will send for a man I wholly trust immediately and I know he will agree. I have to thank you August, for being so helpful, when no one else is. I need an ally and mostly I need a friend, and I think you are both to me. Thank you!"  
When August left, I send for the man in my mind, and hoped that he would prove to be the man I thought he was.

When a knock was to be heard on the door, I immediately sat up straighter in my chair.  
"You sent for me, your majesty. What can I do for you?"  
"I only need one thing from you, officer; your loyalty."

**America's POV**

I was pacing nervously across the floor of my room. I knew that Maxon had some kind of meeting with August, where he didn't want me to join. I hated not knowing everything. It was killing me to not be able to do anything for my brother. Oh my sweet, smart Gerad. He would have to feel so alone right now, if he was even still alive by now…I shuddered. That thought was unbearable for me. I couldn't imagine another family member gone, and I had never wanted to think of that again after my father had died. I hated that it was so close to my father's passing that my family had to suffer through another sudden loss, even if it wasn't permanent…for now.

And why Gerad? Why that sweet 8 year old boy, curious of the world around him, always wanting to know everything, never being able to set foot in a world he didn't belong to? And now that he could actually do what he wanted and be who he wanted to be…he was taken away from all of that? How could someone be so cruel and take so much from a boy that young and so innocent? I would never understand how people could take everything from others just to achieve their own goals.

My thoughts were disrupted by a loud knock on the door. Anxiously I waited for the guard outside my door to announce my visitor. I already knew it could not be Maxon, since he would only knock, and then enter without waiting for permission first.  
"Princess America? Officer Leger would like to have a word with you."  
Aspen? What did he want? We still were friends, I knew that, but we hadn't spoken too much in the last couple of weeks and I was quite surprised he would seek me out now, of all times!  
"Let him enter!" I called out. I was becoming rather good at using that princess attitude…

Aspen was let in through the doors, walked a couple of steps into the room, waited for the doors to be closed again and then embosomed me, pushing nearly all of the air out of my lungs.  
"Hello to you to." I spoke to him as soon as he released me out of his arms; I was quite amused by his sudden burst-out of affection.  
"Mer…" That nickname just reminded me of home," I am SO sorry about Gerad! I can't even tell you, how sorry I am…" I heard how genuine he was by just the tone of his voice and also that that wasn't the only thing he needed to tell me.  
"I have to tell you something."  
There was that. I was anxiously awaiting what he was going to say, preparing for the worst.

"I am being sent away for some time. I am going to leave immediately and I just wanted to come by to say good bye!"  
"What do you mean by saying 'sent away'? Who is making you leave? Is it Maxon? But I thought he understood that there was nothing going on between us anymore! We are married for god's sake, why won't he trust me with this and why-. Let me go talk to him!" I rambled on until Aspen stopped me with his hand on my shoulder.

"Mer! Stop it. He trusts you and he trusts me!"  
"What do you mean?" I was really confused at that point. Why would Maxon sent Aspen away, when he trusted him and me? Did that make any sense? What was he planning?

"I said he trusts me!" Aspen smiled at me, waiting for me to listen to him, "He is sending me away to get your brother, not to kill me! He wants you to get Gerad back, and if I understood him correctly, he wants Gerad back safe, nearly as much as you do. He has a plan, and he actually gave me his approval to tell you the plan. Do you understand? Are you listening?"  
I nodded for him to continue his little speech, waiting for him to end so I could clear my mind and think about what was happening right then.  
"We found out that there is only one leader of the southern rebels that needs to be taken down, to destroy their whole system. He is the one that pulls all the strings, commands his men to kill other people and wants to see the monarchy burn! As unbelievable as it sounds: the other rebels are just too afraid to stand up against him, but they offered their help through August."  
"Ok. I understand. But what is going to be your role in this game?" I asked him curiously as to where he would fit in.

"Gerad is currently under the leader's supervision…The leader is the one who is hurting him, and he is also the only one who wants to use an innocent 8-year old boy as bait to get what he wants. Maxon and August came up with a plan, and they needed a man they could trust. Surprisingly the prince thought of me! I am leaving to get right under the leader's nose, to get him to trust me, and to eventually imprison him, or if that is impossible, to kill him."  
I gulped. Hearing Aspen speak so casually about taking another man's life was quite unsettling, but it was for the sake of my brother's life…I should not be so compassioned about the life of a man that was so cruel, that he was using my own brother to get to me, and the royals.  
"It will take some time, and Gerad won't be home in just a few days. I will destroy that bubble directly, so you won't get your hopes up!" He knew me so well, as I was just thinking about how I would be able to hold my brother tight in my arms by tomorrow night. Another thought hit me:  
"How dangerous will it be for you?"  
"Don't worry about me, Mer. I know what I'm doing and everything is going to be fine, I promise."

Not the answer I had hoped for, but possibly the best I could get.  
"Be careful, ok?" I asked.  
"I always am, you know me, Mer!" I smiled, as this was so much like old times. He embraced me in another hug, squeezing me tight and then letting go of me.  
"Just…could you do me one favour?" He asked while already holding the door knob in his right hand. "Please look after Lucy, while I am gone…ok?"  
"Of course, Aspen. I'll make sure she won't worry too much!" I promised him and he left the room, and myself with so many thoughts wavering around in my head.  
When would I see my brother again? Was Aspen going to save him? Was Maxon's plan the best he could think of?  
I was going to need my husband to calm me down again…Walking through the connecting door to Maxon's room, I decided to lay down a bit, until Maxon would be done with his daily business and would come visit me.

I had been sleeping, snuggled in Maxon's sleep-shirt, when he finally came into the room late evening.  
"Hello my sweetheart." He woke me up with those sweet words and a small kiss to my forehead.  
I wasn't sure if it was my recent exhaustion due to the nightmares I was having, Gerad's kidnapping or just the fact that I had woken up in a matter of seconds, but I couldn't help myself at the sight of my husband, and burst into tears.  
Maxon just held me in his arms, and that was all I needed at that moment, someone to get me…someone who was there to pick up the pieces I had broken into, since Gerad was missing.  
Even though I knew Maxon couldn't be certain that his whispered words of reassurance ("Everything will be ok.") would come true, they comforted me so much I didn't care.  
I slowly calmed down, with only a few sobs escaping myself every now and then and looked up at my loving husband's eyes.  
"I am sorry, Maxon. I know you had a hard couple of days and here I am, making the time you are off work as stressful." I whispered, feeling incredibly selfish in that moment.

"Don't stress about it! I am ok, and just having you in my arms, crying or laughing, gives me well enough comfort. I was constantly worried about you today…" He confessed with a small smile on the edge of his lips.  
"I knew you needed me, and I hated not being able to be there for you!"  
I shook my head, smiling at his worries.  
"You don't have to feel bad, I know you are doing everything to get Gerad back, and I appreciate it. It was hard for me not to burst through your office doors, just to keep you company. But you told me to wait until you'd find a solution…so I waited for you."  
"So, Aspen has told you what we found out and what we decided to do?"  
"Yes he came for me a couple of hours ago…but I actually don't know when? What time is it?"  
I asked, confused, since I thought it was around teatime, but there was no daylight to be seen outside.  
"It's already past ten at night! You must've been more exhausted than you thought you were, darling."  
I probably had been…the thing that was throwing me off even more though, was that I still didn't feel too rested.  
"I guess it is time for bed then?"  
Maxon nodded and surprisingly lifted me up to get to the bathroom.  
"I told your maids to come back in the morning. I thought we would be able to get ourselves ready for bed without the help of other people around." He smirked and winked at me. I just laughed at his obvious intentions, but didn't mind the change of the mood in our room.  
"Just make me forget about what has happened the last couple of days, just for one night…" I begged him, needing an escape from all the recent events and feeling like he needed one, too.  
"Make us forget." I whispered against his lips, while we reached the bathroom door.  
"Do you want to take a bath?" Maxon asked mischievously and without waiting for an answer, dropped me to my feet, my back to his chest, and started to slowly open the zipper of my dress.

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**So proud to say that I've been able to sort my thoughts on this story and have an end planned. I am aiming on ending this at around 20 chapters (more or less).**

**I really appreciate the people who reviewed, especially the ones that read the story a while back when I started! :) THANK YOU!**  
**Oh and as I said, I will edit the first few chapters (not heavily content-wise, but mostly language and style-wise; so you won't have to read them again; If you wnat you can of course!)**  
**So I hope you liked this chapter, please let me know what you thought!**

**-Love Hanna**


	15. Chapter 14

**I probably shouldn't be updating this so fast, but I can't help myself...This story is now, that I've continued writing, coming to an end faster than I anticipated. **  
**I really hope you like this chapter, and PLEASE leave a review on your way out.**

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**America's POV**

I was woken up by Maxon getting ready for his day of work. He was just in the process of pulling up his dress pants when he noticed I was awake.  
"Sorry, darling, I didn't mean to wake you…" He was frozen in his movements, so I could admire his toned chest. Damn…I was a lucky girl.  
"Like what you see?" He asked me, cheekily grinning from ear to ear and moving towards me and the bed.  
"I don't know what you are talking about." I told him; only a little embarrassed at having been caught in the act.  
"Maybe I can make you remember…?" Maxon slowly walked further towards me, and when he reached bend down to kiss me deeply. He pulled away far too soon, leaving me cold and breathless.  
"I have to go…" He sighed, showing me that he wanted not having to go, as much as I did.  
"Officer Leger is probably already at the rebels' base, I am expecting a call later in the morning, so I have to be available for him…But if you need me throughout the day, America, please don't hesitate and come to my office. I am going to miss you…" He bent down to me again, to leave a small kiss to my forehead.  
"It's ok, Maxon, I understand. Do you need me to do anything?" I asked him, just wanting to do something, to get my mind off of everything.  
"Just try and don't freak out. Spend the day with you family, and you friends. I will let Marlee know, that she can come up here, so you two can talk. But please don't stress yourself too much. You are already exhausted." He pleaded to me. I understood what he was saying, but it was going to be a long day…  
Right when Maxon was about to leave the door, I called out to him.  
"I love you." I needed to tell him as much as possible, since our current situation had shown that everything can happen in an instant.  
He smiled at me and repeated the words, so only I could hear them.  
"I love YOU." And with that he closed the door, and left for the remainder of the day.

I still was exhausted, even after all those hours of sleep the day before, but I felt as if I would not be able to get back to sleep, so I called for my lovely maids. I hadn't seen them for too long.  
Anne, Mary and to my surprise, Lucy all walked into Maxon's room, escorted me to my own room, and started to draw me a bath.  
"Oh Lucy…how are you feeling? I am sorry that Officer Leger had to leave on such a short notice…" I still hadn't spoken much to Aspen, and I didn't know if he told Lucy about our history, so I used his official name.  
"You know, Miss" Lucy answered, while Mary and Anne were preparing the bath for me, "You don't have to call him that in front of me. He told me everything, and I am aware of your history. I am ok with it by the way!" She added when she saw the sceptical face I made.  
"Oh…good! Still…how do you feel about him having to leave?"  
"I don't like it, of course, and I am scared for his life…but I know it is necessary and if anybody would be able to complete that kind of mission, I know it would be Aspen. I believe in him, and I believe he will come back to me in the shortest amount of time." She sighed, sitting down right next to me on my bed.  
"I just need to do something while he is gone, so I decided to help you out a bit. To be honest, I really miss being your maid…"  
"Oh Lucy! I have missed you, too." And I threw my arms around her small body, nearly breaking out in tears.  
"Gosh…this situation is making me more emotional than it should! I am sorry."  
Lucy brushed it off with a shake of her head and hugged me back tightly.

"Miss, your bath is ready!" Anne called from the bathroom, and I was ready to dive into a warm, relaxing bath.

When I got out of the bath, my maids dressed me in one of their newest day dresses. It was a light shade of pink, and had a white ribbon going on around my waist. The back was made out of a beautiful lace material, as was some of the front until it reached my neck. My hair was curled and put up in a side bun, and I felt really pretty.  
"As always you've outdone yourself, ladies! Thank you. This must be one of my favourites up until now!" That compliment was obviously well placed, since all of my 3 maids were beaming and grinning from ear to ear.  
As if it was timed, a knock rang through the room, but it didn't come from the front door, so I immediately knew, it must have been Marlee visiting me, as Maxon promised.  
"You are here!" I exclaimed as Marlee entered through the secret entrance inside of the closet.  
"As promised!" She greeted me, wrapping her arms tightly around my shoulders.  
"I've missed you, Marlee! I mean, I do have Celeste who I can talk to, but it is still a huge difference…So tell me! How have you been?" I gestured to the little bump that was starting to show under her work clothes.  
"Later. I have to know how you've been…it's been so long since I've seen you last and so much has happened…"  
I sighed accepting that she wouldn't budge on getting to know how I was first.  
"I'm ok. I mean as good as can be expected under the circumstances…I still just can't wrap my head around the fact, that Gerad is gone and in so much danger at the moment. I'm trying to be calm and trying to get my mind off of things…but I just can't seem to be able to do that! It's like he is a constant presence in my mind, but I just can't help him…which is the worst feeling…not being able to help him and stand back and let other's do, what I am supposed to be doing for my brother!"  
It was hard for me to not let the tears fall, but I tried to be composed just to not worry Marlee too much.  
"Oh don't you dare put all the guilt on yourself, America! You couldn't have changed a thing in this situation, and you can do nothing but hope, right now. These rebels are not to be messed with…especially not if you're too invested with your feelings. You know Maxon will fix this, you know he will rescue your brother, one way or another, even though the King would probably kill him if he knew…"  
I hadn't even thought about that…what rage would Maxon have to face, if the King ever found out about his current plan, or worse, about his connection to the northern rebels?  
"I should not have said that, America…I am sorry, I am sure he will be fine…Everything will be fine! We should talk about something other than that…I can see you're worrying too much again…Hey you wanted to know how I am doing!"  
Marlee: always the Sweetheart, there to help everyone, the kindest person I knew.  
"Yes, tell me! How is your pregnancy progressing and how are things with Carter?"  
"I am good! I was dizzy and felt nauseous for about the first 4 weeks of me knowing I was pregnant…that was horrible! Now it is better and it just occasionally appears when I smell something, that upsets my stomach, but I just can't believe that in just a few short months, I am going to have a baby! I mean I am still so young, as well as Carter, and sometimes I worry, if everything is moving too fast…"  
"Marlee. If I know one thing, it is that you are going to be a wonderful mother! Of course you are young, but it isn't rare for people as young as us, to start a family. And the majority of those pulled through! You and Carter are going to be amazing parents, I am sure of it!"  
My best friend smiled at me, showing that I just found the right words to calm her nerves down.  
"And Carter and I are also good! We both have a lot of work to do, so we mostly see us, at night, when we are all done, but I love to come home to someone. He is always going to be there for me, and knowing that is just a beautiful feeling."  
I could really relate to her, the thought of always having someone to lean on was comforting, and a nice gaze into the future.  
"Now tell me, America, how is married life to you?" It was her turn to interrogate me now, so she winked at me, telling me exactly what she wanted to know.  
"Exhausting…not that part though!" I exclaimed as Marlee raised one of her eyebrows what made me laugh nervously, "No I mean, with all that's going on…I am constantly exhausted…but still find to time for ourselves." I winked at her, knowing she was waiting for all the juicy details.  
"How was it?"  
"Well…as you said, at first a little bit uncomfortable…but Maxon was really gentle and the second time was definitely better than the first…" I smiled at her, feeling relieved I could finally talk to her about stuff like that, and without blushing, might I add. Having the experience somehow made me less uncomfortable with the current theme, and I didn't mind one bit.  
We talked for an hour, before Marlee had to leave for the kitchen again. With one last hug, and the task to be careful and to greet Carter, she left through the closet leaving me back in my own misery.

When I was just walking down to dinner, I met eyes I dearly never wanted to see.  
The King's cold grey eyes were staring me down, making me halt in the middle of the corridor.  
"Are you gracing us with you presence at dinner today, Miss America?" He asked.  
"Princess America…and yes I was planning on doing exactly that. Do you need anything else, your majesty?" I really tried to be as polite as I could, but only his presence made my blood boil.  
"As a matter of fact, yes! I wanted to ask you, how things are with your brother? Any word?"  
"No, sir."  
"Aw…hasn't Maxon found a way yet, to help you out again? I must say, I am thinking the taking of your brother is more positive than I thought it was at first!"  
My eyes were red with anger at that point, how dare he say those horrible things!  
"Maybe the death of your brother will teach you a lesson! Or at least help me get rid of you faster."  
Rage was filling my body, up until the point I thought I was going to burst out in flames.  
"You don't know what you are talking about!" I spat at him, which earned a raised eyebrow on his part.  
"Maxon is planning something, and he WILL bring my brother back. You can do NOTHING to change that. He is very well able to plan on his own, and without you glaring behind his back. He is used to getting no help from his own father by now!" I spoke through gritted teeth, to control my anger, but I knew as soon as I saw the glint in his eyes, I had said the absolutely worst thing.  
_Slap!  
_"You should better hold your tongue, daughter, and start to be obedient to your King!" And with that he strode away into the opposite direction, anger showing through his posture, and his clenched fists.  
What had I done…again?

**Maxon's POV**

I was just done talking to one of my advisors, when the doors of my office flew open without warning, and revealed my father standing there, reeking of anger.  
"Out!" He yelled at the guards and advisors, and as obedient as ever, they quickly left the room.  
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND? I told you NOT to do anything without my supervision, on the matter of the little Singer's boy! And now I learn from your damned wife that you have in plan already in motion? How many times more do I have to teach you a lesson?"  
He glared at me, his eyes throwing out flames at me. America must have let something slip…I should've expected that if my father provoked her in any kind, she would not be able to not say anything…  
"Father, listen, I have a plan, and it is going to work. You don't need to know more!" I tried to calm him down, knowing though that it would not make a huge difference.  
He came closer to me and I had a hard time staying strong and not to yield.  
"You will tell me, what you have planned, NOW, or else I must teach you another lesson or your lovely wife…" He added as he noticed I considered taking his punishment.  
"I have sent someone to the place were America's brother was taken, to free him, and take down the leader. I have informants telling me he is the one causing trouble."  
"You associated with the rebels just so you could free a useless little boy? Have you lost your mind, Maxon?" He was starting to yell again.  
"All these years of bringing those rebels down, of defeating them every time they came here, only to have my son use them as informants? I thought I had made myself clear, that every decision you make by yourself will bring nothing but doom over us? I think I have to teach you another lesson after all! Come with me!" He grabbed me by my collar and led me to his own office mere meters away from mine. As he opened the door he ordered me to take off my shirt. I knew there was no way out of this anymore, so I accepted his orders and took my shirt off.  
My Father grabbed the cane I was so familiar with by now, from under his desk, stood behind me and hit me hard with it. I didn't move nor make a sound. It hurt like hell, but knowing I had saved America from this fate was enough to make me stand strong against him. While he was raising the cane, to hit again, I heard the door open and a voice I knew too well was brought to my ears.

"CLARCKSON? What are you doing to our son?"

I never wanted my mother to find out this way, about her husband's abusive behaviour to her own son, but I couldn't change the situation anymore. I turned around to see my father staring stunned at his wife, and my mother staring back at him in shock. Before I knew what was happening, mother's eyes were rolling up to the ceiling and she was plummeting to the ground.  
Her head rolled to the side, and hit the ground hard, I was only able to whisper to my father "What have you done?" , before I sprinted to her side, lifting her slowly off the ground and starting to run, as fast as I could with her in my arms, towards the hospital wing.

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**Sooo...what did you think? Something you want to read in this story before I wrap it up? (I still have some chapters planned, so don't worry, but I'd like to have some input of what you would like hapening in this story :))**  
**PLEASE leave a review!**

**P.S As some of you may have seen, I started the process of editing all my earlier chapters. If you are 'old' readeres, you can read them again, but it is no Must-Do. I added some things, that I realised I forgot to explain (Lucy-Aspen etc) and over all tried to write in a nicer style...would be delighted to hear what you think about that as well! **

**-Love, Hanna**


	16. Chapter 15

**Hey guys, another chapter for you! Enjoy!**

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**Maxon's POV**

I was running through the corridors as fast as I could with my mother in my arms, and my sore back. I was internally freaking out, hoping that my mother didn't suffer from anything serious, but my priority right now was, to bring her to the doctor ASAP.  
On my way to the hospital wing, America and I crossed passes.  
"What happened?" She asked, shocked expression on her face.  
"She came in while father was beating me…" No more explanation was necessary as my beautiful wife just ran to my side, staying with me until we ended up at the doors to the hospital.

"You're waiting here." I said, hoping she would stay out, just to protect her from more misery. She was already far too stressed with all that's been going on.  
"I'm coming with you!" And because I knew my America, it would never change her decision if I started a fight, so with a short nod I accepted her words, and she opened the doors before me to let me in.

The doctor immediately came towards us as he heard the doors flying and I laid my mother's limb body carefully down on one of the empty beds.  
"Tell me what happened, Sir!" I had a feeling I was going to hear that request many more times that day.  
"She came into my office, and saw something she never should have seen. I don't know what exactly happened to her, but she just fainted, and hasn't woken up until now! Please, do something!"  
As the doctor went to work, the only thing I could do was watch as my mother was lying unconsciously on a hospital bed. I felt a small hand grabbing mine, and one other hand softly touching my cheek. I looked down to see an ocean of blue that were my wife's eyes. Up until that point I hadn't noticed I spilled a tear or two.  
"She is going to be ok." America told me, barely able to keep her own tears at bay.  
"Let us get you cleaned up. We can't do much else for her at the moment." I had also forgotten that I was still shirtless and probably had a huge open wound on my already scarred back.

I let America guide me to another bed and waited for her as she went and got the medical stuff she needed to tend to my wounds. She was getting used to doing that and I didn't like it one bit. How was it fair that my own wife had to clean my wounds, more than once, that were caused by my own father, by the King himself? Why couldn't we just have a normal life? Even if we lived as Fives, like we already had talked about, we probably would be hungry most of the time, but at least we would be safe!

"She probably suffers from a mixture of exhaustion, dehydration and shock, your majesty, and has fallen into a coma-like state. In a couple of days with rest and fluids, she should be awake again." The doctor called from beside my mother.  
"Has she been drinking enough?"  
I looked questioningly at America, she was the one spending more time with my mother between the two of us, and at that moment I swore to myself to change that when my mother would wake up again. How could I be so careless and spend more time with my abusive father than my loving mother? Of course I had to attend to all the meetings and everything else that was meant to teach me how to be King, but that didn't mean I couldn't get some time to meet my own mother!  
"I actually never really paid attention to that, but now that you asked, she hasn't been herself the last couple of days…but no one really has…"  
Dr. Ashlar nodded and continued to examine the Queen.  
How could I have been so stupid and let mother see that situation? I was so careful to hide it from her all the other times before, exactly for the reason to not cause her any more worries. I didn't want her to know that her husband was beating their own son, I didn't want her life to be miserable…but now? What had I done? Not telling my father about anything regarding my plans to save Gerad? What was I thinking? I could have avoided all of this!  
"All done." America called out putting the final pieces of gauze around my middle and pulling me out of my train of thoughts.  
"Don't put the blame all on yourself! You couldn't have changed anything, my love. She was bound to find out some day."  
" I know…but why has it had to be the worst way possible?" I asked America.  
"You can't change what happened, Maxon! Your mother will be ok, you heard the doctor! And we can deal with your father and the consequences later!"  
The door burst open and the devil stepped inside.  
"…or not…" America added, knowing that a confrontation was most likely to happen.  
But to both of our surprise, my father walked through the doors, without the usual pride in his steps, with his head hanging low. He was constantly whispering words to himself, and he was already next to my mother's bed, when I understood what he was saying.  
"What have I done?"  
Yes father…what have you done?

Days were coming and going until I heard any news from Aspen. Mother was, unexpectedly, still in her comatose state, and father hadn't been anywhere else but by her side.  
America and I tried to go about our daily business, but it was hard for the both of us.  
With Gerad still missing, Aspen making no known progress and mother laying unconsciously in a bed our heads were full with sorrow and misery and something had to happen, to make us come out of that state.  
So after another set of days, I finally got a message from Aspen.

_Your majesty,  
I've managed to start my assigned mission the day after I arrived.  
It is harder than we thought, to get into the leader's good graces, but I'm managing just fine!  
I hope that I'll have Gerad and myself out of this situation in a matter of days.  
Gerad himself will need immediate medical attention, since he has been beaten nearly every day.  
He is a tough little guy, and I help as much as I can to tend to his wounds, but I can only do so much…  
You maybe shouldn't tell America the severity of his wounds, since I am sure she will put all the blame on herself.  
Keep her and Lucy safe.  
See you soon, Aspen!_

Ok…So he already got in some time ago, and I had no idea how long it took for this message to arrive here, which meant Gerad and Aspen could arrive in nearly any minute now!

I had hoped that the connection would be done over the phones we both had, but he probably hasn't had a chance to contact me through it, until now, because in that second my phone started to vibrate.  
"Hello?" I asked, already knowing it could only be Aspen.  
"Maxon!" He called out of breath, making me tense up immediately.  
"Maxon, I have found a way to rescue him, I do have the support of most of the rebels here, but it still will be very risky. Gerad is not in a very good condition. He hasn't woken up once in the last two days, but I know he is still alive, he is a tough boy, just like his Sister!"  
He rambled all of this so fast that I had trouble understanding him.  
"So you are going to end this?"  
"I am, Sir. I plan on doing it tomorrow. Be prepared for us!"  
And with that he already hung up the phone again and left me alone with my current problems.  
I immediately started to walk out of my office and down the corridor, into the women's Room where I knew I would find America. From the outside I could already hear her playing the piano, and I thought about just standing there, letting her play and forget everything while listening to this beautiful piece of music…but then I decided that she needed to know what was going on, and that she was so much closer to getting her brother back.  
I knocked, asked one of the maids to deliver a message to America, and then was allowed to step into the room. She wasn't the Queen yet, but since my mother wasn't there, the Women's room was hers to 'rule' over. She was alone in the room, sitting on the piano bench in front of the beautiful dark brown grand piano. Every time I saw her, I was in awe. How could someone so beautiful and talented be my wife? She wore a simple dark green day dress, but it made her hair shine as bright as the sunset. Her smile only awarded to me these days, nearly knocked me off my feet. I hoped these feelings would remain for the rest of our marriage, and we would make it through everything together.

**America's POV**

"Hello, my love." Maxon greeted me with a gentle kiss to my cheek. I was happy to see him, since I had missed him dearly all day. He was my only source of comfort and happiness these days and I usually only got to see him at night, since he had to do all the business the King should be taking care of.  
But the King hadn't left Amberly's side yet, to all of our surprise. Of course we knew that the King loved his wife, but nobody ever knew how deep his love reached. He was a totally changed man, without her by his side. He nearly never spoke to anyone, and he had apologized to Maxon numerous times already, for what he had done to him all those years. I didn't know what I should think about his behaviour, because I couldn't believe someone that awful and cold could somehow turn into something good. I told myself to just wait for what would happen if the Queen woke up.  
"You look beautiful." He exclaimed and still, after what we had done together, what we went through together, I blushed slightly surprised by his casual comment. Maxon then sighed, telling me that he actually came to me for more than only some sweet words.  
"I have news from Aspen." I sucked in my breath, I had nearly given up hope to ever see him and my brother again because there never was a message or just a word from him in the last couple of weeks.  
"A message has reached me that probably was sent a while ago, but he also called me today, saying that he hoped to end his mission tomorrow.  
I drew in another breath and laid my hand over my heart. I was going to get them back. Both of them!  
But Maxon's poor disguised expression of sadness told me that he was hiding something from me.  
"What are you not telling me, Maxon?"  
"You know me too well, my dear…" He sighed and took a breath to start to talk.  
"Aspen has also old me that Gerad has suffered severe injuries…He has been unconscious for the last couple of days…" He immediately continued, as he saw the heartbroken expression on my face. "But he will be fine, he is alive and that is all that matters at the moment. Please don't worry too much! We will see how bad it is, when he arrives tomorrow." He begged me. It was hard for me not to worry; it was my brother's life at stake, after all! But I was still very exhausted and for the sake of my husband's sanity I nodded and answered: "Ok…We will wait and see…I'll have to tell the rest of my family…they'll be so relieved as long as they know that he'll be safe soon."  
"Yes, you should do that…and as I delivered the message to you, I have to get to work again unfortunately."  
But then Maxon never had the chance to leave for more work, because a guard burst through the doors without knocking, not waiting for an invitation to come in, and blurted out: "Excuse me, your highnesses, I was sent to deliver a message to you! The Queen has woken up!"  
And without waiting for me to begin to walk, Maxon dragged me with him by his hand, trying to reach the hospital wing as fast as he could.  
I knew how he felt…because one shimmer of hope was all we both needed.

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**I know this isn't the longest chapter of them all, but I wanted to give you guys an update, before I'm gone for couple of days again. Some stuff I have to do for my Uni applications...and I am already tired of it, before I even started University :D**

**Oh and another thing...I am really sad and actually quite angry with myself! Because of my year long absence I have lost so many readers...I am quite down about that and it's hard for me to believe that it actually matters to end this story, but I would also feel bad to leave this story out in the open...**  
**I hope the people that still read this, are happy with this chapter. Tell me if you wnat something particular happen in this story before it's ending.**

**Thank you!**


	17. Chapter 16

**Hey guys! I got s new chapter ready, and it ends with a cliffhanger ;) **  
**Hope you like it!**

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**Maxon's POV**

"Mother?" I called out as I entered the hospital wing, with America close behind me.  
"Darling! I had hoped you were able to come this fast…We have a lot to talk about!"  
She behaved as if she had just woken up from a casual nap, that hadn't taken up the time of 3 weeks!  
I could only admire her strength and hoped that someday I would possess the same.  
My father was seated beside her, untypically bending his head down as if he were ashamed of something. He was a changed man and I had a hard time recognizing the man that had hit me numerous of times and had been the cause of my mother's health problems. His beard hadn't been shaven in days, his hair was brushing his forehead, and dark circles were underlining his eyes. I had never seen him like that.  
While I was staring at my father, America had greeted my mother with a kiss to the forehead, which had brought tears into mom's eyes. I knew how deeply she had always wished for a daughter and I was over the moon for her that America seemed to fulfil that role.  
"Would you leave Maxon and me alone for a minute, Clarkson- America?"  
Both hesitantly nodded, Father having a harder time than America with leaving my mother.  
"I am waiting outside." America whispered quietly into my direction, as she touched my wrist as a small goodbye. I knew I didn't have to fear for America about being alone with my father. With the current situation I was 100 % sure, that he wouldn't dare to disappoint my mother ever again!

"What do you want to talk about, mom? How are you feeling, anyways?" I asked even though I was pretty sure about the subject she wanted to talk about.  
"I'm ok, darling. Really exhausted, but I know that'll pass…but…Maxon- why did you never tell me? I always knew he was tough on you, and not the father you wished for, but I had never suspected he would physically hurt you!" Tears were now rolling down her cheeks and I hated that she had to deal with this, that she not only was disappointed and more than shocked about the things my father had done, but also about the fact that I had never confided to her.

"Mom!" I called, carefully sitting down on the edge of her bed, consoling her with taking her hand into mine.  
"You know why I never told you! I love you too much and I didn't want to destroy the faith you had for father. I always knew you had enough problems you needed to fix, that you had enough to worry about…and I didn't want to add _that_ to your mountain of troubles. What would you have done if you knew about it? You couldn't just run away with me, or flee, you know you and I, both have duties that we can't abandon. I never wanted to hurt you!" I pleaded for her to understand.  
"I know Maxon, I really understand. I just wished you could have felt like you would have been able to confide in me, that I would've listened to you sorrows! I am your mother after all, and I will always want to protect you!"  
"I know…" I answered, knowing there wasn't more to be done or said.

"He will never touch you again though; I am sure this situation taught him a lesson he should've learned on his own many years ago!" I already thought about that, my father didn't seem as if he was himself lately and all I could hope for was that the change would be a permanent one.

"So, tell me what you've done to get little Gerad back? I am so proud of you!"  
"Nothing to be proud of yet, mom…I'll be lucky if he and Officer Leger will return to the palace alive!" I said, jumping into the description of my plans and ties to the rebels.

**America's POV**

I had waited for Maxon for over an hour by the side of the broken King, until he finally emerged, pushing his mother in a wheelchair out of the hospital wing, without so much as looking at his father.  
"I am going to take her to her quarters; will I see you for lunch, my love?" He asked me, looking happier than I had seen him in a long time.  
"Yes, I'll be there." I answered kissing him softly on his cheek and watching him leave, shadowed by his father.  
That I was at the hospital wing already was quite practical, since I had wanted to go to the doctor for a long time, without Maxon having the chance to worry.  
I was still so exhausted all the time! At first I had pushed it on the situation of Gerad's kidnap, then I thought it was because Amberly was sick, and I tried to share the weight of Maxon's worries. But even after I drank more water, went to bed earlier and slept longer than usual, the exhaustion was still present and I started to think that something had to be seriously wrong with me.  
I opened the doors and went to the doctor's office immediately. I was scared that someone would see me and report to Maxon, so I hurried.  
Dr. Ashlar sat at his desk, surrounded by papers, his glasses nearly falling off his nose. He looked up at the noise of his door being opened, looked away, only to do a double take and then recognizing me.  
"My lady…your highness…What do you need?" I was sorry for disturbing his silence, but I needed to get answers.  
"I need to make use of your medical abilities, sir." He raised his eyebrows at me, gesturing to the chair opposite to him and saying, "I am listening my lady!"

I thanked him while slowly sitting down.  
"Since my brother has gone missing I have been feeling very tired and stressed and I needed more sleep than usual and I've been getting exhausted so quickly…at first I thought it was just the situation, since it is all a bit much…but I'm getting worried that it might be something else…"  
He took notes on an empty piece of paper, already seeming to put my symptoms together to a diagnosis in his head.  
"Ok…anything else that's out of the ordinary?"  
"Not really…besides the occasional headaches, nothing that I noticed. I've even been drinking much, much more these last couple of weeks because of the Queen's condition and I thought that would help, but it didn't. Oh and do I have to remind you that this is a pretty confidential topic, and I do not wish my husband to be informed about it, even though he is the crown prince?" I added, trying to be intimidating, but only coming off as if I was someone I wasn't.  
"You won't need to say it a second time, my lady. So that you have been drinking more water is a good start and even though you didn't recognize a change, it is always healthier to make sure to drink enough. I am going to run some tests on you now, and we will know more this evening, when the results come in. -If you could follow me, please."  
I followed him without a doubt, knowing he would do everything in his power to help me.  
He brought me to a single room, seemingly for the sole purpose of examine and testing patients, and gestured for me to sit on the bed.  
"I will check your blood pressure, since low blood pressure often is the cause of tiredness and dizziness and I will also run a basic ECG just to check your heart, since your family medical-history lets me believe there could be a weakness there." I nodded even though I had never really got these tests done before, but I thought it was rather interesting, when only a pressure sleeve and a stethoscope could tell the doctor anything remotely interesting about my blood pressure.  
I was slightly nervous when he told me he would need to draw some blood, to run tests on it, especially when he came back with quite a big needle, but it ultimately didn't even hurt.  
"Ok…that's it. You are all done. Please visit me at 6 o'clock tonight again, and we will be able to tell what's bothering you."  
"Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate your help, and I'll see you tonight." I dismissed him with leaving the room by myself.  
Luckily I was wearing a long-sleeved dress that day, so Maxon wouldn't be able to see the where I had the blood drawn.

Later that day I sat on my balcony, savouring the last ray of sunlight, when I heard someone entering through the door.  
"My Lady-" I heard Lucy call through the room, until I stopped her from saying more. Without turning around I called out.  
"Lucy! You know you can call me America! You are not my maid anymore, at least not officially and I feel so weird when you keep calling me something I am not…What did you want anyways?" I asked with a tone way nicer than the one I used with my little rant. I didn't mind some company, especially when it was Lucy.  
"I actually just wanted to spend some time with you…it has been cut so short lately and I really miss you, and company in general…" She answered, reminding me how she must feel about Aspen's absence.  
"I'm so sorry, Lucy…I haven't thought about you enough…I am really sorry…" I really felt bad! She was always there for me, as were my other maids and friends, but since Gerad had been kidnapped, I had somehow bowed out of my private live and social contacts.  
"No problem at all, Miss. I know you have a lot on your mind and a lot of problems to bear…I'm just glad that your dealing with this so well!"  
"That's no excuse, Lucy. Everybody has some kind of weight he has to carry around, and they still keep on doing what they are doing…I've been miserable…But to explain my absence the lately…I haven't been feeling so well." I confided to Lucy like I hadn't done to anyone else.  
Maxon of course knew that I was having a hard time and was exhausted, but he didn't know how much it was wearing me down, simply because of us working separately most of the day.  
Lucy raised an eyebrow at me.  
"What is it, My La-…America?"  
I sighed heavily, and I already felt as if a massive weight was lifted off my shoulders, just because I could talk to someone about my recent health problems. I waved for Lucy to sit down next to me on the comfortable garden bench; we were both gazing over the beautiful gardens.

"Oh Lucy…I've been feeling so exhausted…I feel like I could sleep through 24 hours, and still wouldn't be totally rested. I have constantly either headaches or I'm feeling dizzy, and I'm just so, so tired…The only thing I can think about when I'm feeling especially miserable is, what if I have the same condition my father had? Or what if, some day, I just leave Maxon like his mother did?" I told her, knowing she would have some kind of encouraging word.  
"Have you visited the doctor yet? It sounds quite serious to me…even though I am pretty sure it's nothing like your father's condition…and as I've heard, the Queen suffered from a mixture of physical and mental problems that caused the breakdown, that's not likely to happen to anybody!"  
I was feeling better already. How was it that she always found the right words to say?  
"I know…and yes I've been to the doctor's this morning…I will have some results in…" I took a look at the clock inside my room. "Oh…in half an hour already!"  
"Do you want me to come with you?" Lucy asked and all I could do was nod and take her hand in mine gratefully.  
"That would be lovely…!"

So after brushing the subject of Aspen's absence and how Lucy was feeling about that, we slowly walked towards the hospital wing. Luckily Lucy knew when and where people were going to be at this time and maneuvered us through the palace without being seen. When we stood in front of the doors that lead to the Doctor's office, I nearly squeezed all the life out of Lucy's hand, took a deep breath, whispered a quiet "Thank you" towards Lucy, and went through the doors.

"Ah, your highness!" Dr. Ashlar greeted me with a big smile on his face, which immediately gave me hope that nothing too serious could be wrong with me.  
"Exactly the right time, I just got all the test results. And as I see you've brought support. Are you sure you want to share your medical status?"  
He asked me, still smiling brightly.  
I nodded and said "Just tell me."  
"So…your blood pressure is a little low, but it is not anything to worry about, and your ECG was perfectly normal too! Your blood showed some abnormalities though…"  
He said, making me feel anxious all over again.  
"Please, just tell me what's wrong with me!"  
"There is nothing wrong with you, my lady! I am very happy to be able to tell you, that you'll give birth to the next heir of the throne in about 7 months!"  
I wasn't sure if I understood him correctly…How was that even possible? Of course Maxon and I had been having intercourse, but I never thought it could happen so fast!  
My next thought though was not joy, as most would have felt, but pure anxiety…  
How was I going to be able to care for a child? I was still one myself! And with the nation this rocky and rebellious, how could this even be the right time to bring a baby into the world? Worst of all, how was I going to be able to take care of him or her…when I couldn't even save my brother from his current situation? It would be so easy, to get a child taken away, and how on earth should I be able to live with the constant fear of something happening to the child?  
"America? Are you alright?" Lucy asked, noticing my shock, noticing my discomfort with the news I had just received.  
I couldn't answer…in my head everything was spinning around the fact that I could not possibly be an adequate mother to a child, to a tiny human?  
All my thoughts were brushed away though, when we heard a loud crash, and a call for help.

Dr. Ashlar, Lucy and I were darting out of the office, forgetting the news we had just shared, because we were looking at a bloody Aspen, looking as if he was ready to faint, and an already motionless Gerad in his arms.

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**Again a little note from me!**  
**Unfortunately I didn't pass the thing for university I was talking about...so all my plans for my own personal future were flying arounf my head...making me dizzy about my own decisions...**  
**As for my story...I still have some things I want to put into this story, and I hope you'll stick with me until the very end!**

**Love,**

**-Hanna**

**P.S thank you for all the lovely reviews! I really appreciate every single one of you!**


	18. Chapter 17

**Hey guys! New chapter! Enjoy it!**

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**Maxon's POV**

I had been the fastest I could remember, when I was called to the hospital wing, only hours after I had gotten my mother out of there. I had thought that maybe her condition had worsened again, or that something happened to America, but when I had burst through the doors, I saw the cause of the message.  
Aspen was sitting on a chair near one of the hospital beds, getting his wounds taken care of by a nurse, while America was nearly lying on the floor, weeping at the empty bed.  
I expected the worst, and rushed over to my devastated wife.  
"What happened?" I asked her, while soothingly rubbing her back and pulling her up on the bed to sit down beside me.  
"Aspen brought him in. I was near when they came through the doors, and I saw him…" a deep sob escaping her lips, which nearly ripped me apart on the inside. I vowed to myself in that moment that I would do everything in my power from then on to prevent my wife from having to feel such despair ever again.  
"Where is he?" I was afraid to ask that question, but I had to know!  
Her eyes teared up again, and all the hope I had left me.

"He is in surgery. He is in pretty bad shape and has internal bleeding from all the abuse he has had to endure. Doctor Ashlar is trying to fix that at the moment. He says that Gerad is stable at the moment, and that he thinks Gerad is going to pull through, but he also told me that he couldn't be certain and that only time can tell, if Gerad will ever be how he was before."

She leaned her head against my shoulder again, and I wrapped my arms tightly around her, allowing her to break down. I was devastated too, and I had felt like even I could have broken down then and there at the thought of what had happened to an 8-year old, let alone my brother-in-law, and now family! But I knew I had to be a rock for America, since she would have to be one for her family when they were allowed in. We sat there on the bed, tightly embracing each other, giving comfort to each other when someone quietly cleared his throat behind us.  
"Your highnesses…" Aspen spoke up, motioning to me that he would need to talk to me.  
"Do you want to hear what exactly happened, darling?" I slowly asked America, knowing she wouldn't want to be left out of consideration.  
"No…no I don't think I can bear any details at this point…" She whispered, broken and hurting, and again, my heart nearly ripped apart seeing my usually so strong America, so helpless and broken.  
I nodded, pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, stroking lightly over her cheek and then leaving her side, which immediately left me cold.

I lead Aspen to a secluded area so we could talk uninterrupted.  
"Tell me what happened, please." I demanded, not sounding like anything resembling a future King, but just emotionally exhausted.  
"I was slowly inching my way into the inner circles of the rebels, and surprisingly succeeded quite quickly with that. Ronan, which was the name of the leader, took a personal interest in me, and I quickly became one of his advisers. I quite weird, but I think he just wanted to keep a close eye on me, since I had come from nowhere."  
It didn't escape my attention that he used the past tense when he was talking about the leader, and I couldn't help myself but felt an inappropriate spark of glee run through my body.  
"But I had a lot of other rebels on my side, which Ronan deeply trusted, and they told him to trust me. That they knew me and were sure that I would support their cause, no matter what…and he did.  
I don't know if he was just so desperate to want another trustworthy member or if he really was that naïve to believe them… Anyways…I had planned it perfectly, the day I would get Gerad out of there. It was supposed to be a little later than what it now happened to be, but Gerad's state of health made me change my plans. It all went down more chaotic than planned, but the important thing is, that Ronan is dead. I would've liked it better, if he was alive and ready to talk to, but it couldn't have happened differently. I already know the 'new leader', if you can call him that, of this group, and they still have some demands concerning the state, but they are willing to discuss them without violence and are also willing to wait for the right time to implement them."

I was relieved to hear everything, though I was also impatient to hear the demands of the new group.  
"How do I get in touch with the new leader then?" I asked for the last piece of information I needed to know.  
"I know him personally…so that won't be a problem."  
I wasn't sure if I was surprised by that information, but just took it as it was.  
"Good job, Leger." I clapped his shoulder in appreciation, and added "Get some rest, you'll need it!"  
I left the area and was immediately nearly knocked off my feet, when someone, who I identified as Lucy, ran behind the curtains. I smiled, knowing that those two had found each other and deeply deserved the love they felt for each other.  
I smiled all the way I walked towards _my_ love.

* * *

**America's POV**

4 weeks in total had my innocent, little brother been captivated. 4 weeks I hadn't felt like myself anymore. 4 weeks I had been blaming myself nonstop for the kidnap of my brother.  
Maxon had done everything in his power to get him back, and his plan succeeded, though I didn't feel like we had won.  
My little brother, always so full of life, so joyful and active, was now looking nothing like himself. He was as pale as the hospital bedsheets he was propped on, with all his bruises and cuts seeming more prominent on his sickly skin. Bandages were wrapped around different parts of his body, and cables and tubes were leading to too many machines that were supposed to help him stay alive, and monitor al his bodily functions. I was told he was lucky to having been brought back so early, that just a couple of days would have made the difference of him not surviving, but I could only laugh about that. How could all the injuries he had suffered be taken as 'good'? How could his current state be seen as 'lucky'?  
My 8-year old brother had suffered several broken ribs, of which two had slightly punctured his lungs, a broken cheekbone, a compound fracture of his right tibia, and bruises all over his body. He most certainly had also suffered a head trauma, and had internal bleeding from all the kicking and hitting his small body had to endure. What damage the injuries really had done…the doctors would only be able to tell when he woke up.

I had been sitting at his side for almost the entire day, when my family was finally allowed to come visit him too. May cowered at my legs, wrapping her arms around them, searching for comfort and seeking out the proximity to me, she needed to heal herself from the shock she had suffered over all the weeks our brother had been missing. My mother's tears were slowly seeking into the fabric of Kenna's dress since she was leaning her head on her shoulder. We all needed support right then. We had nearly lost another family member, and I wasn't sure if my mother would have been able to pull herself together again, when her youngest child would have died after her husband.  
Aspen was laying on one of the hospital beds further down the room, recovering from so many sleepless nights. He was surprisingly in pretty good shape, only a deep cut above his eyebrow, and some other smaller cuts and bruises, but overall fine. Lucy was cowering beside him, head on the bed, lips on their entwined hands underneath the bedspread. I was happy for Aspen to have someone that cared so deeply for him.

Maxon had stayed for an hour or so, after Gerad and Aspen had burst through the doors and he had been informed about the situation. He was a rock for me, and he was the reason I felt able to be strong for my family. I had cried when he was there, his shoulder soaking wet when he left, but after Aspen had told him exactly what had happened the last couple of hours, Maxon had to leave and take care of the past events. I knew he would wait for me in our room and then again be a consoling warmth in my life. Now though, I had to stay strong for my mother, sisters and especially for Gerad, if he decided to wake up.

* * *

It was another week of anxiously waiting and trying to continue with our daily lives, when Gerad finally decided to wake up. My sisters, my mother, Celeste and I were sitting in the women's room, when a maid rushed in, delivering the news.  
It all left us full of hope, thinking that everything would get back to normal then.  
Our hope was crushed though, when we all went to the hospital wing, and Dr. Ashlar greeted us in front of the doors, with a look on his face that probably was meant to feel reassuring. It didn't feel reassuring at all, but the opposite of that.  
"Is he not awake?" I asked the doctor, anxiety seeping through my trembling voice.  
"Yes he is your highness…" He hesitated and then continued to explain the situation.  
"Your brother has awoken…He is medically fine, according to circumstances…but he hasn't reacted to us in any way so far. He is staring at the ceiling and he won't do anything to reassure us of his well-being. We have to run some more test to know what we are dealing with…"  
"What could be the cause of this?" My mother bravely asked.

"Well…he suffered from a head trauma, because he was continuously kicked…so it could be a result of that…but we didn't recognize the trauma as a very sever one, so we would be surprised if that is the cause. He could also just be in shock. He is so young, and when people this young experience this kind of madness…it is highly likely that they will be the same physically…but will never be the same emotionally, like they were before the incident."  
I shuddered and my stomach felt queasy at how the doctor said 'just a shock', since to me it sounded like the worst possible outcome for my little brother. I expected him to be the same physically active, friendly and curious little boy he had been before the incident, once his wounds had healed, though it was more wishful thinking than actual expectations.

I somehow felt really hot, and my stomach continuously rebelled against me, when I realised that it probably wasn't the chosen words of the doctor, but more the news I had received from him a week prior. I had totally suppressed what he had told me, and I myself nearly was surprised when I ran to the nearest vase and emptied my stomach into it.  
My mother rushed towards me, immediately holding my hair back, which she had always done when I got sick as a little kid, and murmured 'He is going to be ok…' into my ears. When I had finally emptied the last contents of my stomach, my mother passed me a tissue to wipe my mouth.  
"I'm sorry….the situation must've got to me…" I apologized looking to Doctor Ashlar and seeing him smirk at me with knowing eyes. I didn't find it amusing at all though, and started to talk again.  
"So…when are the tests going to be done?"  
That's when the doors opened and a nurse came outside, worriedly calling for Dr. Ashlar.  
"Doctor…if you'd come in for a moment please?" She whispered something in his ear, making it impossible for us to hear what she was talking about.  
"I will come out again when I know more…" The Doctor told us and then rushed inside without telling us what had happened to make his expression so worried.

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**I'm sorry that this chapter isn't longer, but I wanted it to end on a cliffhanger :D  
Guesses of what happened to Gerad are always welcome! :)**  
**I hope you enjoyed it anyways, though! Please let me know!**

**-Hanna**


	19. Chapter 18

**Hey guys!**  
**I've finally been able o write another chapter, and I hope you like it. **  
**Enjoy.**

* * *

**America's POV**

It had been Midnight when the doctors finally decided to open the doors to the hospital wing again. Maxon had come to support me through another stressful evening and I was, again, so grateful for having him.  
Celeste had gone to bed since she didn't feel too good either, but my family were all sitting on the floor with their heads propped up against the wall. I was In the process of dosing off in Maxon's arms when I heard the _click_ of the door and footsteps that were coming into our direction.  
"Your highness…" Dr. Ashlar whispered and I wasn't sure if he was trying to wake up Maxon or myself, so I opened my eyes and sat up at the same moment as my husband.  
"We have the results, and wanted to discuss them with you…" The concern in his voice brought me to the edge of tears again, but Maxon squeezed my hand, stood up and helped me get out of my sitting position on the floor.

While in the process of getting up my vision started to darken and I could literally see the blood pulsating through my eyes. I must've swayed on my feet since Maxon's concerned voice reached me and his strong hands were tightly around my waist.  
"Are you ok, Ames?" He asked, eyes flooded with concern.  
I nodded and mumbled "Must have stood up too quickly…"  
He pulled me to his side, one arm still tight around my waist, supporting me. We decided not to wake my family yet and to hear what Dr. Ashlar had to say. It still could be no further progress after all.  
We quickly stopped in front of Gerad's bed. He was sleeping soundly and if it wasn't for the bandages around random parts of his body, no one would know what he had went through the last couple of weeks. I quickly bend down, kissed his forehead as soft as I could to not disturb his sleep and then carried on following my husband and the Doctor into his office.  
"We gave him some medicine so he could sleep undisturbed. We think he is suffering from serious nightmares, so we hoped the medicine would stop them. He needs the sleep right now so his body can heal…"  
I was thankful for that. Even I was still suffering from nightmares about rebels killing me and my family…and I wasn't even the one who had to go through it in real life. I pitied my brother for having to bear such a heavy burden at such a young age, and it wasn't the first time that I wished to having been the one kidnapped by the rebels…  
"I'm coming right to the point." Dr. Ashlar said and I had to take a deep breath to calm down my nerves and steel myself for what was to come.  
"We discovered that Sir Gerad has suffered from some injuries we couldn't have discovered when he was unconscious. His head injuries were more severe than we thought at first. We were pretty sure that due to his traumatic brain injuries your brother had suffered partial hearing loss, but after we ran some tests all day today we are sure that he is deaf and has no hearing function on both of his ears."  
I had to gulp. Gerad had always loved to hear my mother and I sing and play the instruments, he had always deeply enjoyed the noise on Christmas day when the whole family was at home, talking and laughing. I wasn't sure how he would cope with knowing he would not be able to hear…  
"Is it permanent hearing loss?" Maxon asked, surprising me, because to me the doctor's words seemed to not show any hope of improvement. But then I looked into Maxon's eyes and saw the hurt and despair he felt. It was the last straw he was holding on, even though he knew the truth already, he didn't want to believe the doctor's words and I understood his feelings. The doctor's diagnosis meant that Gerad had something that would permanently remind him of the most horrible time of his life.  
We had both hoped that all his physical wounds would heal quickly and that he soon didn't have anything that would trigger the memories of this time. But our hopes were just that: hopes. Wishes and unrealistic dreams that would never come true…

"Only time will tell if he will get his hearing back. Maybe, in a couple of years, he will be able to hear louder noises again, but we won't be certain until exactly that happens. It is extremely difficult to foresee the future of trauma patients and long-term injuries and the only thing we can do is wait and help him with everything he can."  
How could my life have taken such a different road in just a couple of months? If I had never taken part in the Selection I would probably be engaged to Aspen now, my father would probably still have passed away, but we would have been able to mourn together. I would still work, doing the things I love the most, and most importantly: my little brother would still be on his way of finding his profession, without a kidnap holding him back from everything he loves to do.  
Otherwise though, I wouldn't have met the love of my life, I wouldn't have met the people I love the most beside my family and I wouldn't be able to change a thing in this world. I would not be pregnant with Maxon's child!  
Oh goodness…Guilt rushed through my body because I still hadn't told Maxon about our child growing inside of me, but the truth was…I was scared.  
Every time I thought about my pregnancy, thought about telling Maxon about it I chickened out because saying it would make it real. I didn't want it to be real. I was afraid I was too young to have a child and more importantly to raise a child, but I was even more afraid that something would happen to my daughter or son – something similar to what happened to Gerad. I was an important person, as Queen-to-be and I was also an important target for political changes. If the rebels or other opponents to the throne couldn't get their way through me or Maxon, they would target people close to me, including my mother, my siblings, my friends and my children. I wouldn't be able to protect them, and I really didn't want to see anything similar to what happened to my little brother.  
I couldn't protect my child!  
How can I raise my child, if I am not even able to protect my little brother?

"What did you say?" Maxon asked. I must've said that sentence out loud…

**Maxon's POV**

"How can I raise my child, if…" The rest was only mumbled by America, but the accentuation of her words made me listen more carefully to her words.  
"What did you say?" I asked her, and when she looked at me like she just gave away a huge secret, I knew she was hiding something from me.  
"America? What is going on?" I was getting anxious. I had a feeling of knowing what was going on, but I needed to hear it from her.  
She excused us from the doctor, knowing there wasn't more he could tell us about Gerad's condition at the moment, and dragged me out of the doctor's office towards a secluded area in the hospital wing.  
Before I even said anything she broke into tears and heart-breaking sobs and the only right thing to do in that moment was to hug her and calm her down.  
"Shh..my love. Everything is going to be ok." Luckily there was a bed in the secluded area and I sat down, pulling America on my lap, holding her like a mother would hold her child.  
She must've been under much more stress than I thought she was. I mean, I knew how hard the situation with Gerad and my mother was for her, on top of only being princess for a couple of days before all that happened, I honestly expected for her to break down at some point.  
I also knew though that my wife was one of the strongest people I have ever known and it also wouldn't have surprised me if she got out of this situation without a major breakdown.  
Now though she wouldn't stop crying, so I just held her for how long she needed me to and I was glad that I was the person she needed, to calm down.  
When her sobs were silencing slowly she lifted her head to look me in the eye and say  
"I love you, Maxon."  
More wasn't needed for me. Whatever (or better whoever) she hid from me, I knew she didn't do it to hurt me in any way, but rather to protect.  
Having the situation between the rebels and us solved for the moment and knowing that Gerad would at least be living, was enough for me to also shed a tear or two, and I was glad that I had America to hold onto.  
Before I met her I never believed that love could run so deeply. I never thought that you would care more for one person than for yourself that you'd willingly give up everything, only so the person you love could be happy. I was sceptical back then, when my father announced to me that I had to hold my very own selection. I was excited, of course, to meet so many young and beautiful ladies, but I never really expected to find love. I thought I would just pick the one girl I liked the most and whom I could imagine a good life with…Now I had this beautiful girl, with her hair as fierce as her heart, as my wife and I couldn't ever imagine a life without her.  
"I am sorry, Maxon…" Said fiery girl interrupted my thoughts with her apology.  
"Why don't you first tell me what you were hiding and then apologize for it, so I can decide whether you even need to apologize?" I said with a smirk to my face, knowing what she was about to say.  
"You are going to hate me…"  
"I could never hate you." I whispered lowly, meaning the words I said more than she would ever understand.  
"About a couple of weeks ago I noticed that I was unusually exhausted…I even told you that I believe…" I nodded, remembering the morning where she seemed to need more sleep than usual.  
"I thought it was because of what was going on around here. I had frequent headaches and felt dizzy now and then. Then that thing with your mother happened and I was so scared…I mean her condition was a result of exhaustion and shock and everything going on, so I was scared that something similar would happen to me. I decided to see Dr. Ashlar. Lucy was with me that day. The Doctor ran millions of tests on me, testing everything he could to make sure I was alright. That evening he called me back in, because my blood work came back and he had found something out of the ordinary…"  
America pause, but I already knew where this conversation was heading and I couldn't help myself but felt excitement running through my entire body. I nodded my head motioning towards her to go on.  
"Well…Dr. Ashlar said that my hcG levels were higher than normal…you know what that means, don't you?" She asked slapping my shoulder lightly when I snickered at her explanations.  
"You are pregnant?"  
She nodded, and I saw in her eyes that she feared I would be mad at her for not telling me sooner.  
"Before you worry too much, Ames, I am not mad. I am really happy!" I hugged her tightly and kissed her quickly on her forehead and mouth.  
"Just tell me why you waited so long to tell me?"  
I could literally see a huge weight lifted off her shoulders when she climbed off my lap to sit down next to me on the bed, crossing her legs so she could face me. She took my hands in hers and blew light kisses on every knuckle. I had to shiver at the feathery touches and couldn't help my mind going down a very inappropriate road for this conversation. She seemed to sense the shift in my mood and stopped kissing my hands to look up to me.  
"I was scared." She said while breathing out.  
"What happened to Gerad…I just can't help to feel scared! If I couldn't even protect my little brother…how am I supposed to protect a child of my own?"  
"Of our own!" I corrected her, smiling at the thought of what we had created.  
"Look…I do understand your troubles and the anxiety, but you forgot that you are not in this alone! We are going to go through this together. And we are going to handle this together. I know this is happening earlier than we thought and planned…but I am sure that there is a reason why this is happening now. Maybe it's just a tiny glimmer of hope in all this madness, or maybe it is supposed to bring us closer in these dark times. All I know is, that I couldn't be happier about whom I am going to have a baby with and that I am sure that we will be able to handle all of this! I love you America, and as you said before; you love me. I think that should be enough for now."  
She had tears shimmering in her eyes, making them seem like a literal ocean of emotions and when she grabbed my face with both of her hands, gently pulling me closer…The only thing I could do was to close the space between us, and to show her how much I loved her through the kiss we shared then and there.

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**Sooo...how did you like it?**  
**I've been a little discouraged by the lack of reviews, but I know from experience how exhausting it can be to review...so :D **_(I had hoped for this story to hit 100 reviews, but I don't know if that goal is just unrealistic :D)_  
**I just need to know now...**  
**I have just a little bit planned for you guys...But it won't continue much longer now.**  
**Though I need to know...do you want to see the pregancy develop?**  
**Or is it ok for you guys if I wrap up the story without the process of Ameria's pregancy?**

**Just curious ad this will probably determine how long this story is going to be...soooo let me know ;)**

**Love,**

**-Hanna**


	20. Chapter 19

**Hey guys! FInally got to write another chapter! **  
**A/N at the bottom.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**America's POV**

It was the morning after Maxon and I had found out about Gerad's condition and the first morning we could somehow enjoy as future parents. Well…truth be told it was the first morning that we were able to think of us as future parents, since the other parent was only informed of becoming a parent the night before.  
I actually didn't know anymore, why I had been so afraid to tell Maxon. His reaction the day before only reminded me of how sweet he was and that I actually knew that all along.  
It was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders, a weight I didn't even realise I was bearing.  
We were now standing in front of the hospital wing explaining my family what my brother had to deal with. The doctors allowed us to see Gerad, but in small groups to not overwhelm him.  
We shortly discussed it and my mother, Maxon and I were going to be the first ones to go in. Kenna and James offered to go in after us and to take May with them.

"You can come in now." Dr. Ashlar opened the doors and motioned for us to come in.  
Gerad was laying in his bed, propped up against some pillows and the smile he gave us, was the happiest I had ever seen. It melted my heart to see him like this and simultaneously gave me hope that he was young enough to get over what had happened to him sometime in the future.  
I waved towards him, remembering that he couldn't hear my happy hello. When we were next to his bed, everyone got a turn on hugging him tightly, in mind being more than relieved to be able to do it at all.  
My mother sat down next to him on his bed, pulling him on her lap and held him tightly, kissing his forehead, being overjoyed to finally have her youngest son back.  
Tears of happiness began to form in my eyes that quickly turned into tears of sadness when Gerad tried to talk. I could make out what he was trying to say, but he immediately stopped after he said the first few words. Hadn't anybody told him yet, what had happened? It must be awfully confusing for him to not hear his voice or hear anything at all! Tears were building up in his eyes and I nearly turned around, feeling myself lose my own composure.

Dr. Ashlar had watched everything unfold and brought up something nobody else had thought about before.  
"If I may interrupt…Is Sir Gerad already trained in writing?"

Surprisingly my mother was the one who answered the doctor "Yes. Yes he is! He's been learning to write since he was 5!" One could tell she was proud to be able to say that. She was the one who taught all of us after all!  
Dr. Ashlar moved to go into his office and seconds later came back with a pile of paper and a pen.  
"Then he should be able to communicate like this…at least for now."  
He held the utensils towards Gerad and he seemed to immediately understand what we asked him to do. He was scribbling something down, which didn't seem to be too easy with the IV on the back of his hand, but eventually showed the paper to us.  
"I'm glad you all are here. I've missed you. Can I talk to Maxon?"  
This surprised us all, but probably Maxon the most. Maxon thought of Gerad as his little brother ever since he got to know him, but I was pretty sure he never expected for Gerad to feel the same way.  
I smiled, nodded slightly at both, Maxon and Gerad, and pulled my mom with me to give the most important boys in my life (yet) a little moment of privacy.

**Maxon's POV**

I was more than surprised when Gerad requested to talk- well write- to me, but I was extremely happy that I seemed to have gotten a pretty important figure in this little boy's life.

-What did you want to talk about?- I wrote down for him to read.

-What happened to me?-  
I gulped…how was I supposed to tell an eight-year old boy that he had been kidnapped and severely mistreated, just because his sister married the second-most powerful man in this country? Gared must've seen my hesitation, since he started to write something down again.

-Please! Tell me the truth! I can't remember much…-  
I took a deep breath deciding that he needed to know what had happened, but that I wouldn't go much into detail. He was lucky not to remember anything…

-Ok. You were kidnapped by southern rebels, Gerad. They held you hostage for about 3 ½ weeks…they hurt you pretty badly, but Aspen got you out quick enough. You were in some kind of coma for roughly a week and now you are awake again…and healing.-

Gerad looked me in the eyes and I could see his thankfulness for me telling him what had happened. That was probably a reason why he wanted to talk to me and not his family, since they would have probably only withheld information.

-Thank you, Max.-

I had to smile at his casual way of addressing me and I couldn't help but feel like he was the little brother I had never had…

-What's wrong with my ears?-  
I had dreaded that question since I knew it was coming sooner or later, but I had already thought about what I was going to tell him. The Truth.

-You suffered from hearing loss in both of your ears…but I think you already figured that out…-

Knowing he was a smart boy, I thought he already realised what the problem was and I guessed that the more precise question on his part would've been 'Am I ever going to hear again?' So I prevented him from having to ask the actual question and just wrote what I knew.  
-The doctor doesn't know if it is permanent…-  
His little body nearly collapsed back on himself, and I couldn't imagine how he had to be feeling…

-But it could also come back any time! We won't know for sure, until it is happening. And who knows how far medicine will be in a few years? Dr. Ashlar and his Team promised to do everything they could to help you, Gerad. And your family is there for you, too!-

He nodded and extended his arms into my direction and I was so, so thankful for him wanting a hug from me, that I could barely hold back a tear rolling down my cheek.

-And I'll have you!  
I nearly melted when he wrote that. I knew I was probably sounding like such a little girl…but I couldn't help it!  
-So…how is my family?-  
He asked and I tried to sum up everything important.  
-…so everyone is quite alright, now that you are back! Oh…and…should I tell you a secret? You'd be the first one to know!-

Gerad nodded excitedly and I couldn't help but be excited with him.

-You are going to be an uncle in a couple of months!-  
His smile told everything I needed to know and I could see how much he needed something in the future to hold onto.

-I hope it is a boy! I would be able to play football with him! And teach him everything he needs to know about this world!-  
He wrote, and his excitement didn't need spoken words to be heard. His eyes spoke volumes about what he felt.

-Ready to see your family now? Oh and I have an idea that you'll probably like…but I can only tell you more when I know for sure!-  
He nodded and I took that as an answer to everything I had said.

When the others entered through the doors, I gave America a quick peck to the cheek and slipped out of the room without anyone else noticing. I had something on my mind and I was set on finding out if I was right and if my idea would work.

**America's POV**

"Princess America? Could I have a word with you?" Dr. Ashlar's voice sounded through the room where my lively family was currently occupied with laughing and writing with Gerad.  
"Of course!"  
I pulled him a little bit to the side, just enough for the others not to hear every word we were saying.  
"We really have to schedule an appointment for your first scan on the baby. Although you still have a little time until you are 12 weeks pregnant, I want to make sure that your child is alright and developing normally and want to stay ahead of schedule."  
"Oh god…we are talking about 12 weeks already…that's insane! This is going by so fast!"  
The doctor smiled a little and nodded his head, probably because that was a sentence he heard a lot with pregnant patients.  
"So, how are you feeling at the moment? Are you taking your Prenatals regularly? And…if I may ask…have you told your husband yet?"  
"I'm okay…besides the occasional morning, or better daily, sickness…and I'm still feeling tired, but it is getting a lot better since I'm taking all the vitamins you gave me. And yes, I told him, and he is happy that we are expecting."

"You are expecting WHAT?" I heard a voice squeak behind me, and as I turned around I saw that May was standing behind me, seemingly aware of what I had just talked about with Dr. Ashlar. 'Oh no…' I though and face-planted myself… 'That's not how I wanted everyone to find out…'  
"Ames? What are you not telling us here?" By now she had gotten the attention of the whole room and mentally apologized to Maxon for doing this without him.  
"Guys! I really didn't want you to find out like this…especially without Maxon being here…but I guess May blew my cover…Thank you for that…" I looked at my little sister with a fake mad expression on my face and to my satisfaction she bowed her head in guilt.  
"Just before Gerad was found…I found that I was pregnant with Maxon and I's first child…I was not totally content with the timing and us being so young…but I guess I can't change that now…"  
With ending my confession a little ball of red hair crashed into my, embracing me in a bone-crushing hug.  
"I am so happy, Ames!" I smiled and truth be told…I couldn't have been happier than in that moment, surrounded by my family, the people I loved most, knowing that everyone that was dear to me was safe. My mother and sister soom followed to hug the life out of me, and when I turned towards Gerad he seemed to have understood what was going on even without being able to hear.  
I sat down next to him when the female part of my family had finally stopped congratulating me  
-You know what's going on, little brother?-  
He nodded and wrote something down.  
-Maxon already told me that I was going to be an uncle again-  
His smile radiated off of him and told me how happy he was in the current situation.

The Door opened and caused every one of us to turn around. Maxon was standing in the opening and I could only admire again how damn attractive he was...especially wearing that perfectly tailored suit.  
"What are you all so damn happy about?" It must've been obvious that something was up in this room. I walked towards him, guiltily looking at the floor while I took the steps.  
"Ehm…" I started, taking his hands into mine and looking up in his eyes, while I heard some giggling behind us that could only belong to May.  
"Before I say anything…It wasn't my choice to do this! I was forced into this!" Everyone laughed louder at my attempts to calm Maxon down and his changing expression to total confusion.  
"Oh come on! Just tell him that we know already, Ames!" Kenna called over to the door.  
"Thanks Kens…I'm sorry Honey…but I had to tell them that I am pregnant…"  
At that Maxon broke out into his adorable, weird laughter and I couldn't help but fall in love with him even deeper than I already had.  
"Aw…I wanted to see their faces! But seriously Sweetheart, it's ok." He assured me and pulled me into his arms.  
"Though I am sad that I didn't get the chance to tell the news with you…I came for a reason! I have a little surprise for Gerad."  
With that he turned to my little brother, leaving me behind confused, and started to write while saying it out loud for us all to hear.  
-I told you earlier that I had an idea forming in my head and I took the time to research a little bit…and I was right! I found someone you can talk to and who is going to understand you better than anyone else here!-

"You can come in now!" He called out and through the open door a blonde, little girl, probably around the same age as Gerad but I couldn't be certain, came in, smiling shyly at all of us and walking directly towards Gerad. She signed something to him, and after that wrote something down on the paper that made Gerad smile immediately.

"This is Louise! Louise is the daughter of one of the maids and the special thing about her…She was born deaf!"  
Oh my…what did I do to deserve such a wonderful, heart-warming and quick-thinking husband?  
"Wow…that's just…Thank you!" My mother called out and hugged her son-in-law tightly.  
"Anything for my family, Magda."  
We all turned our heads to Gerad only to see him heavily in conversation with his newly made friend.  
I turned to Maxon and whispered "You are amazing." And kissed him lightly on his lips.  
"What did I do to deserve you?" I asked him, arm in arm watching my content family.  
"You are being you…that is and was always enough, my love."

"Your majesty?"  
A voice called and we turned to see a servant of the King standing inside the doorway.  
"Your majesty, your father is asking for you. He wants to discuss important matters! The princess can accompany you if she wishes to."  
With that the servant turned around, expecting us to follow him and that's what we did…

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**Thanks for reading guys!**  
**I still haven't decided if I'll show the whole pregnancy. **  
**The main reason is, that I am going to sart University this fall and I am going to be on a pretty tight schedule, so I am pretty sure I would abandon this story...again! And thats not what I want.**  
**I thought about ending his story how I already planned it and then publish a couple of One-Shots with imprtant points in her pregnancy and everything.**

**Tell me what you think about are still a couple of chapters planned...around 5I think...so I hope I am not dissapointing anyone!**

**Love you guys, and thank you for alll the reviews!**

**-Hanna**


	21. Chapter 20

Hey guys!  
Chapter **20** already!  
Enjoy!

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America's POV

While Maxon, the servant and I were rushing down the hallways to the King's office, I couldn't help but think about the night before. After Maxon and I had visited Gerad, had found out about his condition and after I had told him about my pregnancy, we had gone to our room and had spent the rest of the night cuddled up at our favourite spot, on the loveseat in front of the warm, crackling fire.  
Now that I had the feeling that all was turning out to the better after all, I couldn't help but smile about the memory of the conversation we have had.

_I loved the warmth of Maxon beside me, and the feeling of his strong arms around my back. I always felt safe when I was with him, and now that I knew what happened to Gerad, and that even though he would probably never hear again, he would be safe, and would be able to live the long life ahead of him- I allowed my thoughts to wander down a different road I had forbidden myself to go down before.  
'Maxon?'  
'Yes, my love?'  
'Can I ask you something?'  
'Of course you can! What is bothering you?' He asked me and pulled me closer to his side.  
'Since I have known that I was pregnant…one thought has been bothering me…'  
While I was talking to my husband, my hand found the slight bump in my stomach. Was it possible that I was already showing? I wasn't even 12 weeks along…_

_'What if it's a girl Maxon?'  
All I could think about was my daughter being off age and having to give her away to another country, just to strengthen the ties between theirs and ours…probably against her will too. I couldn't imagine myself ever doing that!  
'Are we going to have to marry her off to some stranger? Do we have to give her away once her age allows it?' My pregnancy hormones had kicked in while talking about the heavy subject and tears were slowly rolling down my cheeks, pooling at my chin and dropping down on Maxon's dress-shirt.  
'I really don't know my love…' He took a deep breath and used the back of his hand to softly wipe away my tears.  
'I think it will depend on the state of the country, really…and of course it will depend on my father. I think as matters are now, there is no denying how he would react…unfortunately. But I will tell you right now, America! And you little peanut…' He talked down to my belly and it made my heart melt to hear him talk so affectionately to our yet-to-be-born child.  
'I'll tell you. If you are a girl, and I am King, I will do everything in my power to let you make your own decisions and I won't force you into anything you don't agree with. Same goes to you if you are a boy. I love you so, so much already. I can't bear the thought of losing you now.' He talked up to me while saying the next words instead of talking to my belly. 'How am I supposed to let go of our child, when I had 18 years with them…when I am so in love already and have only known about them for an hour?'_

_His arms pulled me onto his lap, and there we sat: embracing each other, holding onto each other and promising us to never let go._

"Ames? Are you ready?" Maxon pulled me out of my happy daze from thinking about the night before and brought me back into the present, which was much more unpleasant. His father, MY father-in-law, had demanded to see him, AND told him to take me with him…What was he going to say or do now? Even though I hated to admit it to myself I was slightly scared. The King had done so much to jeopardize Maxon's feelings for me, he had done nearly everything to make my life miserable and to push me out of his son's life that I was afraid about what he would do next.

"As ready as I'll ever be, Max." He took hold of my hand, squeezed it lightly to encourage me, and simultaneously showed me that he was nervous too.  
We knocked and the doors were being opened by the two guards standing outside the King's office, to reveal King Clarkson sitting behind his desk, and The Queen, standing behind him, hand on his shoulder as to hold him back.

Maxon's POV

I was afraid. I knew my father very well, and if he decided to come for me and demand for me to see him, it had to be something very important, though I hoped this time it would be something positive, even if that was highly unlikely with my father being who he was.  
When America and I had entered through the doors we had found my father sitting at his desk and my mother standing behind him, resting her hand protectively on his shoulder. I had always found it fascinating how my mother was able to soften my father and now I was amazed by the fact that she seemingly had forgiven him for the things that he had done to me, and for the events that had brought her near death. There were times when I had thought that my mother was the only one my father ever loved….and the only one who could reach him with her words, on the high platform he had raised himself upon.  
"You called for me, sir?" I asked him, using the formal way to address him, since I had still not really forgiven him for what he had done to my mother.  
"Yes, son. Please have a seat! You too, America."  
I was immediately amazed by his tone towards my wife. Never had I ever heard him say something to America that would have been considered as being nice to her, but there: he did.  
Now I was extremely curious about what this was all about.  
He started to speak when both of us were seated and it didn't slip my attention that my mother gave him an affectionate and encouraging squeeze of the shoulder as if to say 'Everything will be alright!'.

"I have come to a decision, and with the help and advice from your mother and my advisers, I'm certain of having made the right choice."

Even though I wasn't as far as forgiving him at the moment, I had to admit that since mother had woken up, he had changed tremendously. He had been by her side almost every minute of the day when she had been in the coma, and had given me plenty of rope. He had let me make some really important decisions and hadn't seemed to mind. He was certainly more balanced –mood-wise- and smiled more than I had ever seen him smile, since mother woke up. Though the most shocking change had been, that he had even THANKED me, for doing what I had done, while mother was unconscious and he had apologized for what he had put me through all of those years, while acknowledging me having doubts about his truthfulness. Also, as far as I knew, he had never gone anywhere near America again, to threaten or taunt her again, which was the most positive change for me. I knew that that was probably the hardest part about marrying me for her, dealing with my sick and cruel father.

"Maxon…I know you didn't expect what I am about to say now, especially not before I was dead… but your mother's illness has opened my eyes and let me realise what I have done wrong all my life. You know I'm not the youngest anymore, Maxon, I don't have the physique nor the stamina anymore to uphold the front I have upheld all those years. You are capable of much more than I have ever given you credit for, and I have seen that everything you do, works! You are close to the people of our country ad you have seen the negative example of a ruler in your own father. Most importantly though…I have seen and understood- still trying to understand- the errors in my ways, and I have seen, that you are a better King now, than I have ever been or will ever be. I am truly not cut out for this job, nor have I ever been. I am deeply sorry that I only now realise all the wrong I have done…"  
Even though I knew what was to come, it shocked me deeply to hear the next words out of my father's mouth.  
"I am stepping down Maxon. I want you to rule this country, to make it a better place. I will help eliminate the hatred that goes out to all my mistakes, because it is not your weight to bear…but you are going to make this world a better place, especially with such a strong wife by your side."

I could see in America's eyes that she was as shocked as I was. We had been expecting something bad, when my father had called me in, but instead he proposed the solution for nearly everything to us.  
I squeezed my wife's hand, which had been lying on my leg all through my father's speech, and looked at my mother. I needed her to confirm that I wasn't imagining something here and that I was truly hearing the truth, truly hearing all the words right that my father had said.

"Father…I… don't know what to say, really. I really can't believe that you are doing this…but I am glad. I do have to say though, that you still have a long way to go, to right out all the wrong you did to this world…and me…but I am willing to forgive you father. I really want to try…"

Even though my father had done horrendous things to me, had said words that had broken my confidence, had hurt me physically…the prospect of having a father who CARES, was enough for me to try to forgive him.

"I don't deserve your forgiveness, son…and I will truly try to make up for my mistakes. The only thing I want to concentrate on is to be a better husband to my wife…which I have neglected to be all these years…but more importantly to be a good father to you. I am lucky that you turned out so well, with me being…how I was…but I guess I have your mother to thank for that."  
He reached out and laid his hand upon my mother's and I couldn't help myself smiling to see my mother so happy again. Though I also couldn't help myself doubting my father's words…Could someone really change so much in just a matter of weeks? Was it possible that the tyrant that was my father and King, would step down, because he understood he was wrong?  
I really, truly wanted to believe him…but:  
"I am not sure if I trust you, father. But I don't have another choice right now, than to wait and see what the future will bring."  
I reached out for my mother's hand and squeezed it and then clapped slightly onto my father's while giving him the smallest smile I could master. Could this be real life? Was I naïve to have hope for the future?

"You both have a lot to do, plan and discuss, so I will take my beautiful daughter-in-law down to her family and we'll let you boys talk in peace." My mother said, and I reached for America and gave her a quick peck, before she was pulled out of the room by my mother, who happily chatted away.  
It was somehow funny: If one saw the Queen on television, or in public on general, the only adjectives that would describe her were; regal, guarded and kind. But if you got to know her, she broke out of her shell and quickly showed a demanding and also girl-like attitude which reminded me so much of the attitude most of the girls in my selection have had.

My father also smiled, which was a rather strange sight for me, after his wife and daughter-in-law had left the room and said: "She looks so happy…" and I was happy that my mother meant so much to him, that he had been willing to see who he was and what he had to change, even though it took my mother to almost die to achieve that goal.  
"We have a lot to talk about, Maxon." My father said.  
On so it began: the planning of my coronation and my rule as King.

Many hours of discussing and hearing people talk later, we had planned nearly everything:  
My father was planning to speak to the public about him stepping down, on the next _Report _on Friday and two weeks after that my coronation had been planned.  
One of the most important decisions I already had to make was about my advisors.  
A King needed people that would support him and who he could trust, but also people who would help him make decisions, especially in departments he had no knowledge of. I had to decide whether I would just have the same advisors as my father or bring in new people to open my own council.  
I had decided on an in-between. I was going to keep some advisers I deemed to be put out for the job and bring in some experience, but I also wanted to bring in new people.  
I had already decided to offer Aspen a job in the council next to his job as an officer. I wanted him in, because he proved to be loyal and trustworthy, but I especially needed him in questions for internal and external security.  
I also wanted to offer August a position, as he was the perfect man to give advice on matters of rebel movements that were likely to evolve some time in my future as King.

But the greatest change would be one position in the council I planned to involve the people of the country in. I wasn't sure if it was going to work as I imagined it and I also didn't know if I should introduce the public to it on my coronation day, or later on in my reign. That was a matter I wanted to discuss with America and Aspen and August…the people that were closest to the real world in my environment.  
I had high hopes for the future of Illéa and I was going to give my all to make this country a better place, especially with the thought of having my own children living in this world.

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**Hey guys! Long time no see :D **  
**(Hahaha :D I'm sorry guys, but before I wrote this chapter, I read the one before...and I really had to laugh at myself...I did quite a terrible mistake in the last chapter, but I found amusing in a way :D I wrote about the little girlfriend Gerad now has, as you know, and I realized that I let Maxon CALL OUT to her...oh man...I must have had other thoughts occupying my mind at that moment...but I fixed that already. Hope it was amusing to you guys too, and didn't offend anyone too much...)**

**Also wanted to say thank you to all the new people following this story even though it has come to an end...**  
**I decided to publish 1/2 more chapters and an epilogue...**  
**I hope you guys understand this as I really don't want to have another pause of a year again...I am starting university and I am not sure if I'll have the time to write anymore...**  
**BUT I am planning on doing a series of one-shots about America's pregnancy! Just follow me as an author and you will see when I upload those some time in the future :) Oh and you may see something that has got to do with the baby in the epilogue! so stick with me until the very end, please! **

**I love you guys! **  
**-Hanna **


	22. Chapter 21

**Yes, I am sorry...it is a pretty short chapter. But I had originally planned that this chapter would be the last of this story, but then I enjoyed writing a little bit of fluff about Ames and Maxon that it would have been to much, to put the ending in also. **  
**So I hope you aren't dissapointed. **

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**America POV**

It had been a couple of days since the King had shared the news of his decision and the general public was more than content with the announcement. Though here and there some people voiced their concern over how young Maxon was, or how it could be a distraction tactic. We didn't care for that at the moment though. It was the minority who had concerns and now that Maxon had an agreement with the southern rebels, we didn't have to fear rebel attacks anymore.  
The arrangements and preparations for the coronation were running smoothly, all thanks to Silvia and the rest of the Palace-Staff. It was talked about when my coronation would be and most of the people who had a say in those matters, demanded that it should be on the same day as Maxon's.

The general public seemed to have started to like me more than I ever thought they would and therefore it was important to show that I was nearly as important as Maxon, the future King himself.

Gerad had been allowed to leave the hospital and to stay with our mother and May, all to the liking of every family member. He continued to have a strong and close bond with Louise, and she was teaching him, as well as my mother and me occasionally sign language, so he didn't need to write down everything he wanted to say or try to talk without hearing himself. It was nice to see how with every day his smile grew bigger again and how his eyes were starting to glow again, with his newfound happiness in life. All in all he was coping better with the situation than we had ever allowed us to hope, also a lot better than me.  
I still occasionally found myself breaking down in Maxon's arms, scared out of my mind that I wouldn't be able to care for my child or protect it, but to my luck, Maxon was always able to ease my mind and to make me believe that everything was going to be fine.  
All in all, everything was considerably well, excluding my occasional anxiety attacks.

The time had rushed past us, and before we knew it, it was time for our 12 week- scan.

"I am so nervous…What if something is wrong, Maxon?"  
"Everything is going to be fine, America! I told you not to worry about feeling no movements. I read that it is too early to feel something like that, yet!"  
Maxon told me while pulling me in his arms reassuringly. We were waiting outside the examination room since Dr. Ashlar told us he had another patient before us.  
"We wait until he tells us everything, my love. We are going to see our baby for the first time…and I couldn't be more excited!"  
I could see his excitement in his brown eyes, and his excitement was so infectious that I couldn't help but calm down a bit.  
"Ok…I can do this…" I whispered to myself and as Maxon heard it he pressed a gentle kiss to the top of my head.

"Ok…So if anything feels wrong-for you or the baby-come to me immediately, but I wouldn't expect anything to be wrong so…enjoy the time you have together!"  
We heard Dr. Ashlar's voice coming from inside the room, when the door opened slightly.  
"Thank you doctor! For everything!"  
Wait…I knew that voice…

"America! Maxon told me that you had an appointment with Dr. Ashlar after me…but may I ask what for?"  
Marlee and Carter were leaving the room and while Marlee talked she was already by my side hugging me tightly, pressing her slowly growing stomach onto mine. I was too surprised to think straight when I just blurted out "We are having my 12-week-scan with Dr. Ashlar." And just when I recognized Marlee's shocked and more than surprised expression I remembered that she was one of the people close to me that DIDN'T know.  
"Oh…I'm so sorry Marlee! I didn't want to tell you like this…I think my brain froze just now…Come here!"  
I grabbed her hand to pull her into another big hug, while both-Maxon and Carter- were chuckling about their pregnant wives.  
"It's Ok, Ames!" Marlee reassured me and hugged me back tightly.  
"How did you come in here without anyone seeing you two? And how far along are you now? Oh I am so excited! Our babies are going to be best friends, Marlee!"  
I wasn't usually this giddy and talkative, but I couldn't help my excitement getting the better of me.  
"Maxon helped us-as always-" She winked at Maxon who was watching us quite amused.  
"There is a secret passage into the hospital wing, so we came through that…Oh I am measuring about 20 weeks…and we were just told the gender of the baby!"  
She announced excitedly.  
"Please tell me!" I begged her, even though I wouldn't have to have done so, Marlee was nearly bursting to tell me.  
"It's a boy! We are really happy. In just a matter of months I will have another little Carter by my side…and I can't wait!"  
"Marlee…I'm sorry…but the time-frame is tight…you need to get down again…I am so sorry to cut your time short. But I will promise you: When I am King Things will change!"  
Maxon announced, leaving me no other choice than to hug Marlee AGAIN, and to shoo her and Carter away, so they would hurry up and wouldn't get caught.

"You knew you little sneak!" I pricked Maxon slightly in his side, which made him jump and I gave him a small peck to the lips afterwards.  
"Thank you!" I told him then and Dr. Ashlar chose that moment to come out of his office and inviting us into the room.  
"You ready?" Maxon asked me one last time.  
"As ready as I'll be, my love." I grinned at him, extremely happy to have him by my side and to go through all of this with him out of all the people out there.

**Maxon's POV**

"If you'll lie down here please, Your Highness."  
America obliged and I took the spare chair that was standing in the white, sterile room.  
I looked at America and she gave me a nod to tell the Doctor what we had talked about.  
"Dr. Ashlar. Before we start we would like to tell you that we want to be surprised about the gender. We know that it is too early anyway right now, but for the record and before something slips up by accident, we want to be surprised at the birth of the baby." I smiled at America, because we had a long talk the evening before about this matter. We were both rather drawn to being surprised but it would have been nice to be able to look for one Name and decorate the nursery gender specific. But after all points were brought to discussion, not forgetting the point that I wasn't King yet, and we hadn't decided how we would change the rule to marry a daughter off, we decided it would be best for everyone to wait.  
"Excellent that you told me before I started, your highness. It is not impossible that we would see the gender in this scan, but as you mentioned it is not common to be sure this early…but good to know! Princess America, could you please lift up your shirt a little?-Thank you. I warmed the gel a little so it wouldn't be too uncomfortable for you." He smiled at America reassuringly and I watched with amazement when the moment he put down the sonogram-wand on America's stomach grey fog with distinctly human features appeared on the screen in front of us.  
"So this is the head and this is the bum, and that long wavy band is the umbilical cord."

"It kind of looks like a little peanut." I mumbled into America's ear and she had to giggle at that.  
"It does look like a peanut, if I may interrupt your highness, but it is in fact the size of a lemon right now. It may be easier to imagine it that way." Dr. Ashlar said and-again- I was amazed at how such a thing was possible. How something so small would be growing into a beautiful young girl or boy. It was amazing how nature took its course!  
"Everything looks alright so far! It is measuring great and looks healthy as far as I can tell. We are going to listen to the heartbeat now, so we'll if anything is ok there."  
America grabbed my hand and squeezed tightly. I knew that this was the part she had been anxiously awaiting, and so was I to be honest.  
A few moments passed until we were able to hear a steady beating of a baby's heart.  
As I looked into America's eyes I saw tears forming and slowly sliding down her cheeks.  
"It is healthy…everything is alright! I really can't believe it." She whispered and I had to fight the tears that were threatening to leave my eyes. The baby seemed so real when I first saw it on the sonogram machine, but the heartbeat had something so…real to it…it seemed like something you could grab, something that tells you that there really is a living human being inside. It was incredible and even though we were only 12 weeks into this pregnancy I couldn't wait for the next to come.

Dr. Ashlar dismissed us after he was done measuring every little thing about the 'new heir' as he called the baby, and gave us 2 pictures of the little miracle.  
We had been walking down the halls until we were outside in the gardens, and I lead her to a very familiar bench.  
"This is where everything started." She breathed out curled up beside me in tremendous bliss. We enjoyed the feeling of being beside each other so much that about a half an hour none of us said a word, until America broke the silence.  
"You know what amazes me the most, Max?" I smiled at her nickname for me but shook my head to indicate I was waiting for her to continue.

"It amazes me SO much, that I am able to love such tiny thing…that I am able to love our little peanut without even knowing it! I never imagined being able to love someone so unconditionally without having met them before! It is an incredible feeling…"  
"I know what you mean. I can't wait to meet him or her. Will he/she be fiery like you? Or a little more guarded like my mother? How is he or she going to look? I am amazed at how all those questions will be answered, because we made such a beautiful thing happen! I love you so, so much, America. And I love our peanut so much already…I don't know how I would feel such intensive love ever again!"

America's eyes were filled with tears again, which made them look like the ocean on a sunny day.

"Pregnancy hormones!" America pointed at her eyes and giggled slightly.  
"You can't use that as an excuse for everything, Ames!" I called her out and immediately tried to tickle her sides. I caught her and continued to tickle her until she had a hard time breathing because she was laughing so hard.  
"Mercy, Maxon, I beg for mercy!"  
"Oh, do you?" I continued to tickle her for another moment until I just pulled her on my lap to have her near me.  
"You know…I think my stomach is already growing…"  
America said out loud, making me look down at her stomach immediately.  
"You think?" I asked her.  
"I can't tell with your dress hiding it!" I exclaimed.  
"Well…maybe I could show you…without the dress?" She replied suggestively raising one eyebrow at me, unbeknownst to her that it was the exact response I had hoped for.  
"Go for it then! Show me what you've got under there, Miss Shreave!"  
She quickly stood up and grabbed my hand, pulling on it so I would follow her to our room at least that was what I suspected.

* * *

After the one-hour break with America, I had to get back to work; there were still a lot of discussions to go through and things to plan.  
And faster than I had thought it was the evening before my coronation.

"This is the last day of us being Prince and Princess…Tomorrow we'll be King and Queen and on top of that: parents. I am both anxious and excited to know how we'll manage…"  
I said to America while we were lying in bed, ready to go to sleep.  
"We are going to manage being both…somehow…and you will be the greatest most kind and just King this Country has ever seen. I am sure of it."  
America whispered and I was incredibly grateful for having her by my side every step of the way.

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**Yes guys. This is the second to last chapter to this story. **  
**I am starting University TOMORROW! So I am expecting to not be able to write continuously. **  
**Please leave some last reviews here, before you go, I would really appreciate it :)**

**Love you guys!**  
**and hope you enjoyed this chapter ;)**

**Until next time :)**


	23. Chapter 22

**Hello guys. This is the last chapter for this story! I am sorry for all I have put you through, especially all the wait you have had to endure, but I am proud of what I accomplished with this story, and that I finally am wrapping this up.**  
**So enjoy the (nearly) last words, of this story of mine:**

* * *

**Maxon's POV**

It was the day…The day I was crowned King. My beautiful wife and yet-to-be crowned Queen was in her own chambers, getting fitted for her coronation dress. I was unfamiliarly nervous…I had been accustomed to the ways of the royal family since before I was born. I was used to big crowds, and important events… but being crowned the King Regent… was on a whole other level, even for me.  
I could only imagine how America was feeling right now, plus the fact that her morning sickness wasn't gone all the way. I tried to relax, while the butlers were busy fitting me into my suit, but my thoughts were constantly returning to the event happening in less than three hours.  
That is, until someone knocked at my door and it turned out to be my father.  
"Can I have a word with my son?" He spoke to the butlers and one of them pinned one last pin on my suit and then they were running out of the door, probably to get busy with one of the other tasks for the big day.  
"What did you want to talk about, father?" I tried my hardest, but a slight coldness towards my father was still seeping through my voice. I knew he was trying… he was trying to make up all the errors in his ways, but sometimes mistakes could not be amended… and it would take a lot of time for me to trust him wholly ever again.  
"I want to give you a small speech, before you take all this responsibility onto yourself…even though I'm already positive you've come to all the right conclusions by yourself."

He sat down on one of the embroidered wooden chairs in front of my desk and patted down on the other one, motioning for me to sit down.  
"I know now, that I did many, many things wrong in my life, in my time ruling this country and as a husband, but especially with how I tried to raise you. I want you to learn from my terrible mistakes. I want you to remember to never lose the people you love, out of your sight. To never lose the sight of the goals you set for yourselves, and to never become like me.  
I know you were and still are scared to become like me, however I am utmost certain, that America will ground you. She is, what your mother is to me, and I am deeply sorry I didn't see it earlier on. I know she will be the perfect wife to you, the most loving mother you could have asked for to your children, and probably the most appropriate Queen Illéa needs right now.  
I am proud of what you have become despite my ways, Maxon and I have only your mother to thank for that. I love you, and I know you will do better than me, ruling this country."

He put his hand on my knee, patted it like that kind of motion was completely unknown for him, stood up from his chair, and went to leave my room, not expecting an answer.  
"Father?"  
I asked, before I even knew what to say.  
"Yes, son?" He turned around to face me again.  
"Thank you."  
His smile reassured me, that maybe someday I would be able to forgive him for all he had ever done, even though that was going to be a long and tough road.  
"Oh and father?" He turned around again, waiting for me to say something.  
"You are going to be a grandfather…"  
His smile this time reminded me of the times I was little and the times he had been proud of me for doing something right, although I must've been very little to even remember a time he was like that.  
"Can I tell your mother?" He asked through his bright smile and I could see that he had a hard time containing his excitement.  
"You can." I answered, even though I knew America would be a little upset not to be the one to tell my mother, though I knew this was going to be an important moment between my mom and father.  
He left then, walking a little bit faster than normal, possibly to announce the good news as fast as he could to his wife. 

It was nearly time for us to go downstairs to the throne room, where our coronations were going to be held, when I had a little bit of time to spend with America.  
She already was in her dress, specifically made for the coronation. It was heavier than her normal dresses would be and the skirt flared out behind her in a long train. It was cream coloured and embroidered with little diamonds to enhance that it was worthy for a Queen. I knew she didn't love it, and I knew that it was not her style at all, but I couldn't help but admire her beauty and the way it made her auburn hair stand out.  
"You are incredibly beautiful, America!"

I said as she had first stepped into the room.  
"It is really heavy…I hope this will go by fast!" She laughed and I could tell by the way she did it, that she was more nervous than she let on.  
"You have nothing to be nervous about!" I said to her, even though I knew she had a very good reason. Hell, even I was nervous!  
"The crowd loves you, I love you, and you are going to be a wonderful Queen!" I tried to reassure her and it seemed to have worked because her smile went a little brighter at my words.

"You know that you have even less reasons to be nervous about, right?" She asked me and I couldn't control the smile appearing on my face.  
"We are going to be King and Queen in a matter of minutes…" I said again, grabbing her hand and caressing it softly. I couldn't believe how far we've got, and what we had overcome and the one thing I was surer about than anything else, that it was her I needed around me if similar things were ever going to happen again. I knew I could count on her, and I knew that she was the one who would keep me sane in all the chaos to exist.  
"You know I love how I notice your little baby bump under your dress?"  
I asked her, and it was true. She was showing more and more by each day, which brought us closer and closer to meet the person we both created together.  
"I know…I like to imagine that I feel him reassuring me with every step I take…"  
"He?" I asked in wonderment, because we still hadn't found out the gender and weren't planning on doing so.  
"Well…I have a feeling it's going to be a boy…and I like it much more to call our little peanut a 'him' rather than an 'it'." She said and giggled as I caressed the side of her stomach.

"I think it is a 'her'!" I suggested, knowing she couldn't resist a good banter.  
"Oh, you do now? What about a little bet, my loving husband?" She mocked me, and reminded me about the very first bet we took, about little May and her reaction to strawberry tarts. If that bet was any indication of my luck at winning…It wasn't terribly hopeless to try.  
"Ok….you are on! What's the prize?" I asked mischievously, having my own prize in mind already.  
"Going by your face, I know what you'll wish for!" She laughed out loud and I couldn't help myself to admire her beauty again.  
"But…as I am going to be the winner of this bet…You are going to have to wake up at night, whenever possible, if our little boy needs something other than milk, for…let's say…2 weeks."  
Before I could answer, one of my butlers knocked at the door, and called out for us to get ready, since the coronation would be starting in just a matter of minutes.  
"You ready?" I asked America and as she nodded I added "and we are on for that bet." With a wink, pulling her to my side, linking our arms and taking the first steps into the biggest change we have yet to experience in our time as a couple. 

When we arrived in front of the throne room, we slightly kissed, but let go immediately, because the doors to the room were already opening, and it was my turn to enter. I was going to be crowned first, and then I was the one to crown my Queen.  
As in older days the coronation process for the King was still held by a bishop, even though we hadn't had a religion in Illéa for as long as it existed. I never understood why Gregory Illéa had felt this tradition was that important to be kept alive, but I had always guessed that he hadn't known an alternative.  
I was kneeling at the foot of the steps in our throne room, right in front of the Bishop. I felt hundreds of eyes upon me and when the nervousness started to climb up my stomach, I pushed it down with all my power and waited for the Bishop to start.

"We hereby gather around to witness the coronation of our new King. I may start with the process:  
Will you, Maxon Calix Shreave, solemnly swear to govern and protect the people of Illéa, with all you have, according to the laws and customs of the same?"

The Bishop announced, and I had practised it all day the day before, so I knew what and when to answer and probably could do so in my sleep.

"I solemnly promise so to do."

"And will you, Maxon Calix Shreave, to your power cause law and justice in mercy to be executed in all your judgements?"

I wanted this to come true the most, and put all my heart and soul into bringing this emotion into my answer.  
"I will!"

"So then, by the power vested in me, I pronounce you hereby: King of Illéa!"

While pronouncing his last words carefully, the bishop held the heavily embroidered golden crown above my head and as if someone wanted to say 'This is the right choice', the sun came out at exactly the moment I rose to stand, rays of sunshine shining through the surface low windows and letting the crown glow as if it was a halo surrounding my head.  
As I rose and turned to the people, the people who were now my 'subjects'-the people I vowed to govern and protect-rose to their feet too, sounding as if they were one body, and started to shout.  
"Long live the King! Long live the King! Long live the King!"

**America's POV**

By the time we were leaving for the coronation party, my feet were hurting badly from the heels my maids had put me in. I was aware that flats would have looked rather ridiculous with this dress, but oh…was I wishing for my comfortable leather boots from home.  
It had been a long day already, and I was dreading having to spend another couple of hours at the festivities, acknowledging all the people who wanted to congratulate the new King and Queen, but I guessed that was my job now!  
My evening got an upgrade for the better though, when I recognized a group of girls walking towards Maxon and I, and I realised that it were nearly all the girls form our Selection!

Celeste, of course, leading the group, but different than old times, chatting with the girls next to her, came to me and hugged me tightly.  
"I feel like I haven't seen you in ages!" She exclaimed and rose her hands up to emphasize her point. That was when I recognized a big diamond ring on her left ring-finger.  
"Celeste? What is this?" I pointed at her finger and by her smile I realized that that was her intention all along, to draw attention to her left hand. Her smile grew bigger as she explained to me.  
"I am engaged, America! His name is Samuel and I know him from when we were children…I nearly forgot about him, but we reconnected when I was visiting Clermont…and it kind of clicked for us! We are getting married in 3 months." She exclaimed, and we simultaneously squealed from excitement while hugging at the same time, making Maxon laugh out loud.  
"Congratulations, Celeste! I am happy for you!"  
"Thank you!" She answered genuinely, and hugged him slightly too.

It was time to greet all the other girls, and I only felt a small flash of grief about not having Kriss here. We were slowly getting over her loss, and we were slowly returning to our 'old' lives. Everyone a their own pace. It felt good though, to talk to all of the girls, even though we hadn't all gotten along in the process of the Selection, our journey let us grow together and I was sure I would never let them go completely.  
I let my gaze wander around the room and couldn't help, but feel relief and satisfaction run through my body, as I saw all the people I loved:

I saw Gerad running around through all the guests, Louise chasing after him in a white, puffy dress, giggling with happiness. I saw Silvia looking after the two with disapproving looks, but holding herself back with any comment. Lucy and Aspen were standing in another part of the room, arms around each other, radiating with love and happiness.  
Amberly and the former-King were enjoying themselves by sitting at a table and observing the people around them, modestly holding hands under the table.  
All my family, even Kota had been invited for the big day, had gathered around one table and was sharing stories of the old times. Of course Marlee was missing, but I knew that she was more than ok, and that things would probably change for her, too, in a matter of weeks, now that Maxon had the power to do so.

In that moment I could not have been happier. I was happy that everything had turned out to be good, that the people I loved the most were happy and that I had an amazing man by my side, to overcome every obstacle with for what was to come.  
I turned towards him, both hands holding his, and smiling up to him.  
"I really am happy…I have more than I deserve and I am going to spend my life with you."  
"I'm glad." He answered, and gently caressed my cheek.  
"Are you ready for our new life? Being King and Queen, having a baby…?"

"I am."  
I exclaimed without a doubt and reached around his neck, pulling him towards myself and pressing my lips to his.  
And in that moment I knew that everything happened for a reason…whoever there was that had control over things that happened on this planet…I knew that all those things that had happened to us, good or bad, where the reason we were what we were that day, and that without them, we wouldn't be 'us'.

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**So...that's it...**  
**I do plan on writing an epilogue, and I am going to say goodbye properly on that...**  
**but I really appreciate all your guys' support through this journey and I hope you are not to mad at me for making you wait and now only having the last chapter for you...**  
**I love you though, an I hope you enjoyed this last chapter.**

**-Hanna**


	24. Epilogue

**Ok…this is probably the most embarrassing thing that has happened to me on here yet…thank you to Sarah Michelle13 for bringing it to my attention that I told the story of Maxon/America telling the King and Queen about the pregnancy…not once but twice…I apologize for that. And because I liked my second approach better, Chapter 22 is the chapter where they tell them ;)**

**I am also saddened to say, that this is my last ever chapter of this story. The Epilogue.**  
**It is also not too long, but I hope you are content with it. More to the goodbyes at the end J**  
**Enjoy one last time:**

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**America's POV**

"Cas…Please!" I sighed loudly and waited for my little boy to stop moving around so much, until I lost my last bit of patience:  
"Caspian Shalom Shreave!" He knew he was in trouble when I called him by his full name and looked at me with his big brown eyes which reminded me so much of his father's.  
"Would you stand still for once and let me get you dressed? Your grandparents are downstairs, waiting in the family room for us, and I still have to dress your sister!"  
As stern as I tried to come across, I couldn't help myself, but let a smile wander to my mouth, when I saw his eyes and pouty mouth.  
"I'm sorry mommy…" He apologized and turned towards me to hug me tightly.  
"I'm never going to move again in my entire life, so you won't be mad at me for moving around so much ever, ever again! I promise, mommy!"  
I couldn't resist the laughter bursting out of me. 5-year-olds said the funniest things sometimes, or at least our 5-year-old did.  
"Cas, you can move around all you want, AFTER I dress you. I am also not mad at you, you just have to contain the ants in your pants so we won't be late for dinner!"  
"I don't have ants in my pants." He answered shocked and touched his bum with his hands, which didn't help me in holding in my laughter any further.  
I then was able to finish dressing him, and put a little tie on him to finish off the look. I had never really cared for looks, when I had to dress myself properly, but since we welcomed our little boy into the world 5 years ago, I had the strangest urge to dress him up. Not to the point where he would look ridiculous, but I found a lot of fun in it, to find respectable clothes for him, or try something different.  
"Max? Is Noelle awake from her nap yet? I have to get her dressed, so we can get going and walk down to the family room. It's Christmas eve after all!"  
My lovely husband walked into our shared quarters and up in his tux-clad arms was a very sleepy looking toddler. Her red curls were disheveled and one of her tiny fists was rubbing her eye.  
She was indeed tiny, as I had given birth to her 6 weeks too early, but she was one fierce and intelligent 2-year old.  
"She is indeed awake, but oh…so very tired! Aren't you Ella?" He tickled her stomach and her high, girlish squeals and giggles were letting my heart nearly burst from luck.  
My second pregnancy had been a lot harder than my first, not only because she was born too early, but because I had severe morning sickness throughout nearly the entire pregnancy. But even though it was a rough time…when she was born, every hardship drifted into the background and all I could see was this beautiful girl, who had, then already, had a full head of bright red curls.  
At that time I felt like our little family was perfect. Two healthy children, one more mischievous and curious than the other and my husband who supported me in every way possible.  
In the year following our coronation, it hadn't been easy, especially with a small uproar from the higher castes when we announced that the caste system would be slowly but steadily disestablished in the country of Illea. But we were able to get through that together, and the birth of the new heir to the throne had given the public hope for the land's future.

"Ok, baby girl. Which colour would you like to wear today?"  
When I explained earlier that I was obsessed with dressing my children, I wasn't kidding, even though it was so out of character for me. Caspian and Noelle both had a ginormous wardrobes just for themselves for which my maids were responsible of stocking up every now and then.  
And Noelle had taken a liking to search for her favourite clothing on her own.  
"I think I would like a green dress, mommy." She answered, still sounding sleepy but climbing off of her father's arms towards her wardrobe, in which she disappeared.  
Maxon came towards me, wrapped one arm around my waist and kissed my cheek.  
"You look incredible, you know that?" He whispered in my ear and I, still somehow worked up by his words, blushed in a deep shade of red.  
"I can't wait to take that dress off again, tonight, when the children are in bed…" The unspoken suggestion hanging in the air between us, until we heard a muffled 'Mommy, I need help!" From out of the closet and I hurried to get to my daughter.  
When I walked in I only saw a pile of clothes on one side of the room and when it moved slightly I knew where I had to search for Noelle.  
"Honey, why didn't you wait for me to help you?" I asked while pulling her out of the mess she made.  
"I tried to do it alone. Didn't work…"  
I smiled at her and mumbled so low, that she wouldn't be able to hear: "I can see that…"  
Come on which one do you want to wear?" I asked louder then and she pointed to a very pretty dark green dress, that would go well with her hair.  
"Good choice, my darling. Come on we need to get going!"  
I helped her get into the dress, but didn't make the effort to put up her hair. It was prettier down anyways.  
When we were finally ready to go downstairs I couldn't help but feel excited and nervous at the same time. It was gift-giving time and my gift to Maxon was something so special I was afraid of his reaction to it.  
"There you are!" Amberly called out as the little red head ran towards her until she was pulled up in the arms of her grandmother.  
"I thought you would never come!" She said mockingly and tickled Noelle's side, making her laugh again.

**Maxon's POV**

I took my father's hand and squeezed it tightly. It had been 5 years since all the events happened and I still had a hard time forgiving him wholly. He did his best though to regain my trust, and Caspian seemed to adore him. I only hoped that Cas wouldn't be too disappointed when he found out what sort of a person his grandfather was, before he was born. On the other hand…It would teach Caspian a lesson and he was a forgiving little guy. I hugged my mother with Ella in her arms, and kissed her cheek slightly.  
"Merry Christmas, Mother." She smiled at me and hugged Noelle even tighter.  
"PRESENTS!" Caspian then screamed behind me as he saw the small amount of packages under the lit-up Christmas tree. America and I agreed on trying to not spoil our kids even though we had the money to do so. Sometimes it was hard, especially with America's newfound love for children's clothes, but we tried our best to keep them modest and appreciative.  
Caspian was already unwrapping his biggest present, which turned out to be a blue bicycle that left him giddy with excitement, while our little one took her time in unwrapping the smaller presents, which were mostly books. She was only two, but she loved books so much already that she insisted to be read to every evening before bed and she liked to have some new stories to listen to.  
The squeals of excitement by the children were accompanied by 'Wow's' and 'oh's' by my parents, while America made her way towards me.  
"My family is going to come soon."  
I nodded, as it was tradition that we celebrated Christmas Eve with a big special dinner together. It was always a quite big affair with four children aged 2 to 7 and America's whole family around. They were all quite feisty and communicative. For Gerad's enjoyment we had also started to invite Louise's family too, since the two of them were attached by the hip and nearly spend every minute of the day together.

"So before all the hustle and bustle is going to start, I wanted to give you my present!"  
I sighed.  
"Ames…Come on! We said a year ago that we wouldn't get presents for each other on Christmas! I don't have anything special for you!" Meaning that I indeed had _something_ for her.  
"I know…I know. But I couldn't do anything about it. It just…I don't know…happened."  
I was curious then…what did she find that she couldn't wait for to give to me on my Birthday?  
She handed me a small box wrapped in white paper and grinned mischievously up at me. It was pretty light and I really had no idea what it could be.  
"Open it!" My wife demanded and as well as I knew her, I wasn't going to be told twice to do so.  
I opened the box and in there were socks.  
Light yellow, baby sized socks.  
I looked into her eyes, diving into the ocean of blue and pulled her head towards me to kiss her passionately. I grabbed her waist and lifted her up off the ground to spin her-very clichéd-around in joy.  
"How far along are you? When did you find out?"  
I felt four pairs of eyes burning through my back and felt the curiosity of our little family.  
"Just about 14 weeks along…" My eyes grew wide as the last pregnancy had pretty distinct symptoms that even I had realised belonged to a pregnancy…but this time?  
"I know! I've known for about 2 weeks, but I thought about wanting to announce this in a special way, so I waited for Christmas. Are you happy?" She asked curiously, though she had to know I didn't have anything about another child, by the amount of times the topic had come up since Noelle was born.  
"Of course I am!"  
And as our family, the Singer's entering through the doors then, heard about the news and our children started jumping and dancing in joy about another sibling, I knew we had overcome the first and hopefully last hardships in our life and marriage. I knew that we would be able to rule this country together with our people, and that we were raising children that were going to continue our ways.  
I knew, with the wife and family I had…I had nothing to worry about, because we were there for each other. We had created an environment full of love and equality and happiness and there was nothing that could ever ruin that creation.

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**I can't believe this is over.**  
**This is the biggest story I have written yet, and even though it took some time, I am extremely proud of it!**  
**I thank you all for reading this story, and hope you are content with the ending, even though it might seem quite sudden.**  
**I wish you all the best, lovely people of the internet. Stay safe and be kind to one another.**  
**Happy New Year 2017.**

**Thank you.**

**Hanna**


End file.
